THE MILWAUKEE SEVEN GEARS UP TO COMPETE IN THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE.

By David Fantle / Illustrations by Gilbert Ford

In the annals of Milwaukee’s regional cooperation history, it was a pretty big deal. Elected officials representing the seven counties in southeastern Wisconsin—Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha—signed a pact to work together. The new band of brothers had one goal in mind: to leverage the economic muscle of the region in the global marketplace.

There’s a lot of muscle to flex when you consider that the seven counties involved encompass more than $78 billion in gross metropolitan product output, 50,000 businesses and one million jobs. In fact, the region ranks 10th nationally in the number of corporate headquarters per capita.

The agreement that was reached between the urban and suburban communities pledges to uphold the belief that economic prosperity and growth can be better achieved by working together.

This formal effort, dubbed the Milwaukee 7, was launched in September 2005 by political, corporate and civic leaders. The goal is to pool resources and promote the assets of the region, which includes eight Fortune 500 companies, a highly skilled workforce, numerous educational institutions and a desirable quality of life. These attributes will hopefully help business grow, and retain and attract talent to the region.

Leaders behind the Milwaukee 7 are the first to admit this will be no easy task, but the long-term viability of southeastern Wisconsin is ultimately at stake.

“Regions that succeed work together on a regional basis,” says Julia Taylor, president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, one of the driving forces behind this initiative. “A regional effort aligns governments and the needs of business, industry and individuals. The result is better policy, better planning, and an overall better economic health and opportunity for the region.”

Along with the GMC and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, another major player in the consortium is the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, located in the center of town.

CHOOSE MILWAUKEE

Late last year, the Milwaukee 7 launched choosemilwaukee.com, which provides information that perspective businesses can use when considering an expansion or relocation to the area.

Also available is a walk-in resource center located in the downtown headquarters of We Energies, the regional utility company, which opened its doors to provide visual information (via a large plasma-screen television) about prospective site locations, demographics, and the region’s cultural and leisure assets.

NEXT GENERATION MANUFACTURING

Long-rooted in heavy manufacturing, leaders of the Milwaukee 7 are working to reinvent a sector that has lost 41,000 jobs since 1999. This past spring, the Milwaukee 7 unveiled a detailed strategic framework that places a growth emphasis on what they call “next generation manufacturing.”

These firms, represented by companies such as Milwaukee-based Rockwell Automation, are technology driven and adaptable to the changing requirements of the global marketplace. Staying nimble and identifying emerging global trends—such as clean and green technologies, advances in biotechnology and water research—are key components. The Next Generation Manufacturing Council, led by industry leaders, is developing a detailed action plan that will regularly report on progress.

Changing Perceptions

WHAT DOES THE MILWAUKEE 7 NEED TO DO TO MAKE MILWAUKEE A GLOBAL PLAYER?

Location, location, location. Four of the seven counties in southeastern Wisconsin sit on Lake Michigan, the largest freshwater lake in the country. With some calling freshwater tomorrow’s oil, location is key to marketing the region.

Guerilla marketing with volunteers. Grassroots initiatives are used to tell the world about the region’s quality-of-life assets. The Guerilla Marketing team recently invited editors from six Wisconsin colleges to come to Milwaukee and take the region for a two-day test drive.

Mission control. Talent attraction and retention is an important part of the Milwaukee 7 mission. According to Dean Amhaus, president of Spirit of Milwaukee and the coordinator of the Identity Team, perceptions of the region can be changed by showing people the region. Based on the feedback from the young journalists, the whirlwind tour of the counties did just that.

Marketing the transition. The Milwaukee 7 is finding innovative ways to tell people that the region is changing from an industrialized, distribution-dominated city to an up-and-coming metropolis for young adults.

Get the word out. Christie McCowen in the The Lawrentian, the student newspaper at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., writes, “In the Milwaukee 7, you can live in the quieter, suburban areas, work in the city and have an average commute of 20 minutes.”

Failure is not an option, according to Bill Mitchell, the executive director of Waukesha County Economic Development Corp. However, an isolationist attitude held by some could derail the effort.

“Our perspectives are often rooted in our own backyard,” he says. “We think in local terms on challenges like budgets, limited resources, suburb versus city issues, who pays for sports infrastructure, etc. In reality, our long-term economic future will be shaped by how we play on the global stage, not by winners and losers within the Milwaukee 7 region.”

While business-based organizations are driving the Milwaukee 7, state and local units of government are at the table acknowledging the vital role they play in this effort.

“Government needs to streamline and allow businesses to grow in our region,” says Bill McReynolds, a county executive in Racine. “We’ve worked hard to streamline our zoning process. It’s advantageous for the government to sell the fact that we want to be a partner with business, not impede the process.”

Taylor is confident that all the planning will eventually lead to the intended results and make southeastern Wisconsin a major player on the world marketplace’s economic stage.

“Five years from now I envision significant economic growth in sectors involving innovation, media, research and next-generation manufacturing,” she says. “As a result, we will see hundreds of additional jobs and higher per capita regional income. This in turn will increase the Milwaukee region’s profile and positive impressions to people around the country and the world.”

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