WED AM News: State tourism sets another record in 2023 with $25B impact; Talking Trade with Dean Haen, Port of Green Bay

June 12, 2024

— Tourism in Wisconsin had a record-high $25 billion economic impact last year, marking a 5.4% increase over the previous year’s record of $23.7 billion.

State officials yesterday announced tourism industry data for 2023, showing Wisconsin had 113 million visits last year. That’s 2 million more than in 2022, and includes a record 46 million overnight visits.

Overnight visitors spend nearly three times more on average than those visiting for the day, a release from the governor’s office shows.

“Wisconsin has so much to offer, from waterslides to watersports, hiking trails to contrails, and world-champion sports teams to world-champion cheese, so it’s no wonder we’ve seen yet another record-breaking year for Wisconsin tourism for the second year in a row,” Gov. Tony Evers said in the release.

He also touts his administration’s “smart, strategic investments” in tourism. The release notes previous state budgets signed by Evers funded Travel Wisconsin’s advertising campaigns in 2023, which ran in a dozen Midwest markets last year.

Meanwhile, Department of Tourism Secretary Anne Sayers notes the tourism industry “reached every corner” of the state. All 72 counties experienced economic impact growth last year from tourism, the release shows.

The industry supported more than 178,000 jobs in 2023, which is 2% more than in 2022. And it generated $1.6 billion in state and local tax revenue, for an increase of 5.8% over the year.

See the release.

— In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” Port of Green Bay Director Dean Haen discusses the business climate in northeastern Wisconsin and an ongoing expansion project.

“We’re serving the industries of agriculture, construction and manufacturing, so as they need raw materials, the port serves as the conduit for those commodities,” he said, noting the port ships petroleum products, diesel, ethanol, liquid asphalt, limestone, salt, coal, iron, aluminum, forestry products and more.

The port is actively looking for new tenants, Haen said, with a goal of filling gaps in supply chains for the region.

“Getting someone to change their supply chain takes a lot of time and effort, and they don’t happen overnight,” he said. “So port-related new developments take several years to facilitate.”

The podcast highlights an effort to transform a former coal-fired power plant into a port project, which has financial support from various county, state and federal grant programs.

“And we have one last grant that’s out there, a U.S. DOT Raise grant, that if we are successful here, in June we will have assembled all the dollars necessary to repurpose that property,” he said. “So we’re really optimistic and hopeful that we’re successful in this next and hopefully last round of grants needed to see this project built.”

Haen also touches on the port’s efforts to diversify its commodities as coal use declines amid the clean energy transition, as well as shipbuilding operations in the region that rely on the port.

“Collectively, we are working to sustain and grow shipbuilding in Wisconsin,” he said.

Watch the full episode.

“Talking Trade” is now available in audio form on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Subscribe and find more episodes here.

Listen to an earlier podcast with Haen.

— The Port of Green Bay is reporting slightly lower totals so far this year following a stronger start to last year’s shipping season.

So far this year, a total of 418,547 tons of materials have moved through the port, according to yesterday’s release. That’s 2.6% lower than the same period of last year.

But Port Director Dean Haen notes the first three months of last year’s shipping season saw a 54% increase compared to the same period of 2022.

“This season, we’re seeing a very slight decrease from last year’s tonnage,” he said in a statement. “To put this in perspective, it’s still a strong start to the shipping season, and we look forward to seeing what the rest of the season will bring.”

See the release.

— May home sales in the Milwaukee area were up 9% over the year, the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors reports.

A total of 1,715 homes were sold in May in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties, according to the latest GMAR update. That’s compared to 1,574 in May 2023.

Meanwhile, listings increased 13.8% over the year, as part of a 10-month streak of increases “that has not been matched since the mid-2000s,” report authors wrote. Last month, the region had 2,207 listings compared to 1,940 in May 2023.

“However, listings coming on the market are not lingering, they are being absorbed quickly because of strong demand,” report authors wrote.

Home prices in May were 11.7% higher than the same month last year, reflecting the “vigor of the demand side of the market,” the report shows.

“Often, when listings increase prices will moderate because buyers have more options and can take their time before making an offer,” report authors wrote. “Today’s market, however, would need several thousand more listings to achieve that kind of equilibrium.”

See the report.

— Ascension says it has fully restored electronic health record access in Wisconsin and eight other states following a cyberattack in May.

In an update posted online yesterday, the Missouri-based health care system said it continues to work toward completing EHR restoration across its operations by Friday. Last month’s cyberattack caused widespread disruption of this system, and it remains only partially restored in several states.

An Ascension spokesperson notes medical records and other data from between May 8th and the local date of service restoration “may not be accessible” as the health system continues to update its records with information collected while the EHR system was down. Medical records generated during that period can be requested by email or fax.

“As EHR is restored across the entirety of our network, clinicians will be able to access patient records electronically as they did prior to this incident,” the spokesperson said in the online statement. “Patients who receive care in those markets can also access their patient portal, as they normally would.”

See the health system’s Wisconsin cybersecurity incident site.

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— Life sciences executive Deborah Keller has been named chair of the WARF Board of Trustees, the organization announced.

Keller spent 30 years with New Jersey-based Covance Inc., overseeing $3 billion in revenue and more than 12,000 employees across 125 countries in her role leading Covance Drug Development. She retired from the company in 2016, and was first elected to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation’s board in 2017.

“UW’s research community is one of the finest engines of innovation in the world, meeting the complex challenges of today and the future,” she said in a statement. “WARF is a storied organization with a mission to support research and innovation and helping the citizens of Wisconsin and others around the world.”

See the release.

— Progress has slowed on planting this year’s corn and soybean crop as wet conditions continued through last week.

That’s according to the USDA’s latest crop progress report, which shows corn planting was 87% complete as of Sunday. That’s 13 days behind last year, and six days behind the five-year average, the report shows.

Meanwhile, soybean planting was also 87% complete, which is nine days behind last year and one day behind the average.

The heaviest rainfall was seen in northwestern and southeastern Wisconsin, though wet conditions statewide meant just 2.9 days last week were suitable for fieldwork.

See the report.

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