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This past year, many
families have struggled to make ends meet. Businesses have strained to keep
their doors open. That’s a fact in Wisconsin, across the country and all
around the world. It’s sobering to think about the scope of the global
recession, and the ways it has affected so many of us. I think there’s some
comfort in the knowledge we’re all in this together. I believe that shared
concern gives us all a stake in the efforts to bring about economic
recovery. It’s clear that, in Wisconsin, we’ve already taken important steps
on that path.
Earlier this year, the Wisconsin State Assembly approved millions in worker
training funds and extended unemployment benefits to help Wisconsin families
make it through this crisis and prepare for the jobs of the future. We
green-lighted more than $200 million worth of business-boosting credits and
incentives that are already generating new jobs and corporate growth all
across Wisconsin.
Republic Airways recently announced it would establish a major airline hub
in Milwaukee, creating or sustaining 1600 jobs. Mercury Marine wrapped up
talks with the Department of Commerce that secure 2,700 family-supporting,
full-time positions. Frito-Lay of Beloit, Northwoods Paper of Beaver Dam,
Fowler and Hammer of La Crosse, VitalMedix of Hudson, Ryan Manufacturing of
Schofield, and Seven Oaks Dairy of Kaukauna - they’re all growing in
Wisconsin. Locally, we were also pleased to hear about the expansion efforts
taking place at Logistics Health in La Crosse. This expansion plan will no
doubt add new badly needed jobs for our area.
In another bit of good news for our area it was announced recently that
Whitehall Holdings of Trempealeau County will receive $130,000 in economic
development tax credits for an expansion project that will create new jobs
right here in rural Western Wisconsin. Whitehall Holdings is closely
affiliated with Whitehall Specialties, Inc., which produces and markets
cheese and cheese substitutes. Most of its customers are industrial users
that incorporate the company’s products into frozen pizzas and other
entrees.
It’s encouraging to see this growth, and to know that the new incentives and
worker training programs the Wisconsin State Assembly passed are
responsible, in part, for this positive news. However, I do want to
emphasize that we have more work to do, to get Wisconsin’s economy back on
track. And I think it’s time for us to put our heads together to figure out
the state’s next move. That’s exactly why I have been working with other
Assembly leaders to develop a group called Wisconsin’s Partnership for a
Stronger Economy. The Partnership includes Republicans and Democrats,
business leaders from all kinds of fields, workforce development experts and
labor representatives.
Their political backgrounds don’t matter - but their ideas sure do.
I know that working as a group, setting politics aside to focus on our
shared goals, will be the most effective way to create jobs and grow
Wisconsin businesses. We’ve got to remember, we’re all in this together.
We’ve faced the challenges of this economy together and, together, we can
reach our goal of setting Wisconsin on a track to economic stability and
future success.
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