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Recently Eau Claire was named one of the top 50 best “Small
Places for Business and Careers” in the United States by Forbes magazine.
Eau Claire ranked higher than any other Wisconsin city, followed by Appleton
and La Crosse.
What makes a good city for doing business? We hear a lot about ‘jobs’ and
‘taxes’, but what really makes a difference?
Last year in Wisconsin some taxes on business were raised - mostly by
closing loopholes that allowed some of the largest corporations to escape
state taxes.
This change leveled the playing field for Wisconsin based companies, but the
state’s Chamber of Commerce took issue with the changes. They penned opinion
columns citing lists ranking Wisconsin among the 10 worst states for
business. They ran full page ads with maps showing the ‘best’ and ‘worst’
states with the message ‘we have to turn Wisconsin from black on the map
(the 10 worst states) to white’ (the 10 best states).
Yet, looking at where job growth is happening, the results suggest states
with higher taxes and a so called “bad” business climate is where the jobs
actually are and the living is good.
For example, the black states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa, were three
of the fastest growing Midwestern states. And, the white state of South
Dakota, the “best” state in which to do business, hasn’t grown as fast as
its grey neighbor, North Dakota, where the business tax climate falls
somewhere in the middle of the rankings.
The factors considered in Eau Claire’s top 50 ranking included job growth
and the cost of doing business. Other factors included things government can
do right - like helping more students graduate from college, assisting
locals in creating cultural opportunities, good schools, parks, low crime -
quality of life.
This week two reports from Madison offered good economic news. Legislative
Fiscal Bureau director Bob Lang said April tax collections are on target to
meet budget projections. Continued positive numbers will make a ‘budget
repair bill’ unnecessary. (Something Minnesota legislators can envy
Wisconsin.)
On the job front, the state Department of Workforce Development said
Wisconsin added 16,400 jobs in April, reflecting the largest one-month jump
in jobs in more than 14 years.
Creating jobs will continue to be a priority. While no single event caused
our national economic downturn, no single program will put Wisconsin on the
path to economic growth.
As a member of the Senate Committee on Economic Development I worked with
other legislators to accomplish positive, bipartisan action on a variety of
programs that will provide assistance to boost business development.
Our legislative work fell into three main areas; we support entrepreneurs -
the innovative, hard working people that want to start a business; we assist
existing businesses in growing, capturing new markets and adding jobs; and
we encourage businesses relocating to choose Wisconsin.
Whether starting a new business or growing an existing one, access to
capital is a challenge. Our focus was creating ways to improve access to
capital. Small businesses and entrepreneurs can use micro-loans to stay in
business or help make their idea the next great small business.
Increasing the tax credits through the Accelerate Wisconsin program will
allow ‘angel investors’ and entrepreneurs to get businesses off the ground
and growing. Creating a one-stop shop for assistance in working through
regulations and permits also makes opening a new business easier.
Collaboration between business and the UW system will help business bring
new ideas to market. Through new Technology Incubators and Emerging
Technology Centers, UW campuses around the state can help existing
businesses expand.
The new “Green to Gold” revolving loan program will support manufacturers
who want to compete in the new ‘Green Economy”. In addition, grant
assistance is now available for rehabbing factory space for green energy
production.
Creating enterprise zones for favorable tax treatment is one incentive for
new businesses to relocate in Wisconsin. Several large companies moved to or
expanded operations in Wisconsin using these incentives.
Investing in growing our economy takes time and some results won’t be seen
right away. Legislators will claim credit for a host of new opportunities
for business growth. And right they should - improving our economy and
getting people back to work ranks as our top priority.
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