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Building on Diversity
10/28/2003

By Gregg Hoffmann

MILWAUKEE -- If Milwaukee is really going to become the "urban anchor" of the Wisconsin economy, it is going to have to capitalize on its diversity.

That seemed to be a consensus among panelists for the "Urban Anchors: Building the 21st Century Milwaukee" session at Monday's Wisconsin Economic Summit.

Lois Quinn, a senior researcher at UW-Milwaukee, said the four-county area of the Greater Milwaukee region will have a "flat labor force" over the next several years, largely because of retiring baby boomers.

Waiting to fill some of those jobs, however, is a wealth of young minority people.  According to Quinn, Milwaukee has the youngest African-American population among 100 large cities in the country.

Its Asian population ranks as the fourth youngest, and Latino ninth, according to Quinn.  "The minority population is young and growing," she said.  "That population will fill much of our labor force.  We also need to attract educated young people."

Of course, that population also needs access to adequate education and training for higher-paying jobs.  That's where some of Gov. Jim Doyle's "Grow Wisconsin'' ideas can come into play, according to some of the other panelists.

Two Doyle appointees -- Antonio Riley, executive director of WHEDA, and Michael Morgan, secretary of the Department of Revenue -- emphasized the job training and education aspects of Grow Wisconsin.

David Riemer, the departing Doyle budget director and a recently announced candidate for Milwaukee county executive, listed education as one of four essentials for a thriving urban economy.  Riemer also listed the basics of infrastructure and needed services, a superior quality of life and connections for people to the job market.

Milwaukee has a way to go in developing these areas but has more in place already than many people know.  For example, Quinn said that the stereotype inner city block "where nobody works" doesn't exist, according to her research.

In fact, people living in the North Division High School neighborhood have an economic impact of $67 million per square mile.  Meanwhile, in a similar neighborhood around Oak Creek High School, the figure is $20 million per square mile.  That's largely because of the concentration of population in the city.

This concentration also creates markets.  Morgan said 5,000 businesses exist in the so-called central city. And 26,000 manufacturing jobs, half of those in the metro area, can be found there.

What is needed to help these businesses thrive, and spur new ones, is more venture capital and investment, better transportation so workers can get to jobs, and government that helps the private sector create jobs, the panelists agreed.

Several panelists mentioned the Menomonee Valley as tying in with inner city economic development.  Julie Penman of the city's Department of Development said the valley is ideally situated to attract workers from the south and north in the city, as well as from the suburbs.

All the panelists also agreed that Milwaukee has to overcome some urban legends and stereotypes to better market itself.  But, to this columnist. one of the encouraging things about the panel discussion was that it did not focus only on better public relations and hype to change the image of Milwaukee.

There have been too many such efforts in the past.  The panelists Monday seemed to understand that substantive economic development, and improvement in the quality of life in Milwaukee, has to continue.  For that to happen, the community has to embrace its diversity, and make it an asset. 

--Riemer as Politician--

At the Economic Summit, Riemer was making some of his first public appearances since announcing he will run against Scott Walker for Milwaukee County executive.

Riemer brings credentials as a behind-the-scenes architect of economic policy and plans at several levels of government.  He served as Mayor John Norquist's budget director for a number of years and understands Milwaukee.

It will be interesting to see how he makes the transition to candidate for a rather visible position like county exec.  Riemer made a soft-spoken, thoughtful presentation at the panel discussion on Monday.  Will his style succeed in this era of in-your-face discourse, and so-called negative politics?

--A quiet passing--

For any longtime observer of Milwaukee politics, you could not help but be struck by how quietly Gary George's career ended in last week's election.  Just over 7,000 people - fewer than 10 percent of the eligible voters in the 6th Senate District - managed to oust a man who once was considered the most powerful minority politician in the state.

Maybe the recall election itself was anti-climatic after all the other controversy that has surrounded George over the years.  After all, he was going to court over the recall only days before the actual election was held.

Now, it will be interesting to see if George just fades into the sunset, in Grafton or elsewhere, or re-emerges in some other capacity.  This writer would bet on the latter.

-- Hoffmann is a veteran journalist and senior lecturer in journalism and mass communication at UW-Milwaukee.  His next Milwaukee Insight will run Nov. 10.


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