As the Wisconsin job market for college graduates declines, attendees at the Wisconsin Economic Summit will meet to discuss how to turn around the dormant growth of high-income industries that attract students.
Wisconsin business leaders, key members of the UW System and state government officials, including Gov. Scott McCallum, will gather in Milwaukee today and Tuesday for the conference.
The main goal of this year's meeting is to determine how to create higher-paying jobs, one of the problems set out during last year's summit.
\If you look at the national average for income, the Wisconsin average is a couple thousand dollars below the national average, but the average number of hours worked in Wisconsin is among the highest in the nation,"" said Kevin Boatright, UW System vice president of university relations and an attendee of last year's conference.
Boatright suggested Wisconsin look beyond the traditional manufacturing and agricultural jobs and focus more on high-growth fields that hold economic promise and draw more college graduates.
""In Wisconsin, the problem is not that graduates are leaving, but that our current industries are not attracting graduates, both from in state and out of state,"" he said.
Joel Rogers, UW-Madison professor of law and sociology, who serves on the summit steering committee and is director of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, offered several ideas of how government and industry could work together to solve the problem.
State encouragement of industry involvement in student internships and recruitment, student loan aid for graduates who work in the state and tax credits for businesses that hire in-state graduates were several suggestions proposed by Rogers to put a halt to the ""brain drain.""
Federal funding for corporate investment is another area in which Wisconsin needs help, Rogers said.
""We are currently last in the nation in federal funding,"" he said. ""We have the ingredients to increase funding'good education, good research and good workers, but we aren't getting it done.""
Rogers pointed to Austin, Texas, which received federal aid to jump start its computer industry, a hotbed for college graduates.
Finding methods to increase venture capital and promote entrepreneurial activity are other ways in which to draw recent graduates to the Wisconsin job market, Boatright said.
He added that UW System participation at the summit is a good indication that it is concerned about the Wisconsin economy, especially the job market for graduates. UW System President Katherine Lyall and UW Board of Regents President Jay Smith are co-chairs of the convention.
""[The UW System is] providing leadership for the economy. It's not symbolic that two top university officials are heading the event,"" Boatright said. ""I think it shows that we are concerned, and we are involved.""
Those interviewed said they agreed that the summit is a step in the right direction.
""It makes people better informed of the options available to the problems in the economy by getting those involved to come together and form better plans for the economy,"" said Louis Janowski, a state Department of Commerce official who is a contributor at this year's summit. ""It's definitely good for Wisconsin.\
