If the state of Wisconsin is to remain competitive in the new economy, it will have to stimulate growth in high-tech areas, research, retaining its college graduates and promoting investments, according to a recent study by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.
\The new economy is where the jobs are going to be, and it holds the prospect of better paying jobs than many of the traditional industries in Wisconsin'like agriculture,"" state Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, said.
According to Mike Browne, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chavala, D-Madison, there is a large percentage of the population in the workforce, but their wages are below those of other states in the Midwest.
""That is why developing high-tech industries is important because those are the industries that provide the good paying jobs,"" Browne said.
One way of increasing the number of high-tech businesses in Wisconsin is for the state to provide budding entrepreneurs with money in the form of venture capital, according to state Senate President Fred Risser, D-Madison.
Tony Hozeny public information manager for the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, said Wisconsin retains fewer college graduates relative to other Midwestern states simply because it does not offer the jobs they are looking for.
Hozeny said, the UW-System is second in the nation in fostering economic growth, but he added the system needs more stimuli.
Wisconsin already possesses a few promising high-tech industries, especially in the fields of biomedical devices and information and data processing, according to Hozeny.
Risser said, ""We need to support biotech development here at UW-Madison and the [senate] budget has authorized funds to put up the buildings necessary to promote biotech. If we can create biotech jobs, [investments] will come here.""
An economic stimulus package, which state Senate Democrats passed last week in their version of the state budget, adds course sections to the UW in areas of high-tech study and allows research here to continue, Browne said. He added that more research would spin off businesses, which develop new technologies and create high-tech jobs.
Black said that no future economic growth could occur if the state does not change its approach to economic development. The Republican Party has been shortsighted in the view of economic development, he added.
""Economic development in the new knowledge-based economy means making public [governmental] investments in education, universities, and in quality of life,"" Black said.
However, Hozeny said, Wisconsin already has a number of the assets needed to move ahead in the new economy. Despite these positives, most investing in high-tech companies still happens on the east or west coasts according to Hozeny.
""We just haven't been thought of, in the center of the country here, as a place to make investments in fast growing companies,"" he said. ""What we need to do is to publicize Wisconsin as a place where you can find first class investments.\
