— Members of the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce are optimistic about the future of the area’s economy, according to a recent survey.
“As we turn the page in 2023, businesses are focused on igniting the local economy and asserting their competitiveness,” Chamber President and CEO Rob Kleman wrote in a report on the survey results. “The year 2023 will be taking us beyond the pandemic recovery as local businesses continue to build their base.”
The organization’s annual Business Outlook Survey was conducted online with 50 members of the chamber over the last week of December and first two weeks of January. In an interview yesterday, Kleman said the survey results suggest companies in the area are feeling confident as they emerge from the post-pandemic rebound.
Looking ahead to the next six months, 81 percent of respondents rated their company’s outlook as “good to excellent.” That number rises to 88 percent for the next 12 months, and 86 percent for the next one to three years.
Meanwhile, 77 percent of respondents expect sales totals this year to outperform their 2022 figures. And 70 percent expect first-quarter sales to exceed the comparable figure from last year.
And despite the workforce shortage remaining the top area of concern for Oshkosh companies, 55 percent of respondents said they expect to hire more employees this year. The same percentage said they have unfilled job openings, but that is down from 75 percent in the 2022 survey, Kleman noted.
Still, just 42 percent of respondents said the state is headed in the right direction. That’s a slight improvement from the previous survey, when 36 percent approved of where the state was headed. For the country’s direction overall, those totals were 31 percent in the latest survey and 22 percent in last year’s survey.
Kleman notes that CEOs, business managers and owners tend to be optimistic by nature.
“True to form, our survey found Oshkosh business leaders inclined to be optimistic about 2023, but inflationary pressures, interest rate increases, labor shortages, and supply chain issues continue to provide some level of uncertainty,” he wrote in the report. “However, the severity of these threats to growth will play out over the course of the year.”
See the full survey results here: https://www.oshkoshchamber.com/business-outlook-survey/
— Gov. Tony Evers’ 2023-25 biennial budget proposal will include $6 million annually to promote clean energy jobs, as well as more funding for the state’s forests and paper industry.
Evers’ office yesterday announced a number of initiatives ahead of the full budget proposal being unveiled on Wednesday. These include $4.4 million to encourage the planting and growth of trees and forests, and $2.7 million to prevent invasive species.
“We don’t have to choose between building a healthier, more sustainable state and bolstering our workforce and our economy — we can and must do both,” Evers said in a release.
The $6 million annually to promote clean energy jobs would include a combination of training programs. Evers also wants to spend $2 million in fiscal year 2023-24 to create the Southeast Wisconsin Green Jobs Corps. The guv’s office said it would encourage young adults facing barriers to employment to take jobs in the energy efficiency, conservation and environmental sector.
— Evers will also propose making it harder for lawmakers to block stewardship projects, including a provision that would double to $500,000 the threshold for when the Legislature is able to review a proposal.
Joint Finance Committee Co-chairs Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, and Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, knocked the proposal, accusing Evers of trying to “strip away legislative authority and undermine a legislative process that has demonstrated success in making government programs better and saving taxpayer dollars.”
And Evers is proposing an additional $500,000 over the biennium for the UW-Stevens Point Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology and the Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering Technology, and Apprenticeship Center at Mid-State Technical College in Marshfield.
See the release: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WIGOV/bulletins/34747bd
Track the Evers budget by subscribing to the WisPolitics Budget Blog. Contact schmies@wispolitics.com for info.
— The White House is highlighting economic improvements seen in Wisconsin since President Biden took office in 2021, noting private companies have committed to investing more than $4 billion in the state since that time.
In a fact sheet distributed ahead of Biden’s post-State of the Union stop in DeForest yesterday, the White House pointed to the 129,923 new business filings in the state since December 2020. Wisconsin has added about 118,000 jobs over the same period, the document shows.
Along with lower gas prices and the near-record low unemployment rate of 3.2 percent, the release spotlights some recent high-profile development projects from Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Georgia-Pacific and Alliant Energy.
It also notes $2.9 billion in federal funding has been announced for infrastructure projects in the state, including $2.1 billion for transportation and $150,000 for clean water initiatives.
See the release and fact sheet here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/02/08/fact-sheet-the-biden-economic-plan-delivering-for-wisconsin/
— During his stop in DeForest, Biden touted his economic plan and said if the previous Congress could work together to pass legislation with bipartisan support, there’s no reason the new Congress can’t do it.
The previous Congress had two Dem majority chambers, but the House now has a slim Republican majority.
“People sent us a clear message: fighting for the sake of fighting gets us nowhere. We’re getting things done; it’s always been my vision for this country,” Biden said.
Biden spoke yesterday at the Laborers’ International Union of North America Training Center, where he praised investments under the bipartisan infrastructure law, including the purchase of 46 electric buses for Madison and replacing the Wisconsin River Bridge in Columbia County.
See more coverage at WisPolitics.com: https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/wed-pm-update-spending-in-scowis-primary-tops-5-million
— Data and computer sciences are among the fastest-growing majors at UW-Madison, according to a recent report from the university.
The report shows data science alone has added 914 students since it was added in 2019. Yazhen Wang, professor and chair of the Department of Statistics, highlights the “intense demand” seen among students for data and computing skills.
Meanwhile, computer sciences has added 642 students between fall 2018 and fall 2022, the report shows. Department Chair Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau says the university aims to “ensure a positive experience for every student looking to gain the skills [needed] to succeed in the digital age.”
Rounding out the top five majors for most students added in that period are: consumer behavior and marketplace studies, with 410 more students over the previous Retailing and Consumer Behavior; psychology, with 363 more students; and global health, with 357 additional students since the major was established in 2019.
Entomology Prof. Susan Paskewitz, who helped develop the global health major, highlights its emphasis on “empathy, cultural awareness and humility, and on collaborative efforts to improve health at the population level — across the ocean or in our own backyard.”
See the report: https://news.wisc.edu/uws-5-hottest-majors-student-demand-workforce-trends-drive-enrollment-gains/
<br><b><i>Top headlines from the Health Care Report …</b></i>
— Exact Sciences has launched a new test to help guide doctors’ treatment decisions for patients with cancer.
And the downward trajectory of flu activity in Wisconsin continues, according to the latest respiratory virus report from state health officials.
<i>For more of the most relevant news on COVID-19, reports on groundbreaking health research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com.</i>
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#TOP STORIES#
# Wisconsin saw a surge in new businesses during the pandemic. They now face inflation and a tough labor market.
# Biden rallies workers in Wisconsin after big speech
# UW-Milwaukee branches in Washington County, Waukesha face uncertain future
#TOPICS#
# AGRIBUSINESS
– Wisconsin farmers expect to see record costs to plant crops
# CONSTRUCTION
– State certification agency won’t raise architect, engineering license fees in 2023
– Revised plan could make Milwaukee home to two of the world’s tallest mass timber towers
– Developer significantly increasing height for planned Edison Street apartment tower
# ECONOMY
– Joe Biden’s Madison area visit focuses on economy
# ENVIRONMENT
– Wisconsin farm receives regional environmental award
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=156&yr=2023
– Another bill introduced to delist gray wolves
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=157&yr=2023
# FOOD AND BEVERAGE
– Supporting women in brewing
# FOXCONN REPORTS
– Former Foxconn employee sues company, alleges time was shaved off employees’ timesheets
# HEALTH CARE
– Body Week: Wisconsin pulmonology doctors weigh in on undiagnosed sleep apnea, medication costs
# POLITICS
– President Joe Biden speaks about job creation near Madison
– With an eye on 2024, Biden takes his economic message to union workers
– Evers calls for smoother approval of stewardship projects
– What’s Josh Kaul’s next move?
# REAL ESTATE
– Johnson Controls a partner in massive $3.8B Chicago project proposed near Soldier Field
# RETAIL
– Milwaukee furniture store plans to double in size
# SPORTS
– Pippen promotes whiskey at Ray’s in Wauwatosa, signs bottles for fans
# TRANSPORTATION
– Racine trucking firm files for Chapter 11; owner vows to forge ahead
# PRESS RELEASES
<i>See these and other press releases:
https://www.wisbusiness.com/press-releases/ </i>
Dept. of Natural Resources: Prepare for wet weather with flood insurance
Brown County Taxpayers Association: Names officer, directors
