The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.

The goals were ambitious but achievable. Among them, establish a world-class manufacturing technology center in the University of Wisconsin System; support more hands-on help for entrepreneurs; establish seed, start-up and growth capital funds; encourage more trade; and create more small business incubators.

Were those recommendations from the latest Wisconsin Economic Summit, held Sept. 30-Oct. 1 in Eau Claire?

No, they were among many suggestions made in the final report of the 1985 Wisconsin Strategic Development Commission.

In addition to proving I am a policy-paper packrat, that dusty 1985 report shows that such exercises are more than showrooms for wonkish ideas. They’re platforms for examining Wisconsin’s economic strengths, weaknesses and emerging challenges – even if action may be years or decades away.

The just-completed summit at Eau Claire’s Pablo Center featured such discussions on a mix of trends.

One touched on the notion of a “K-Shaped Economy,” which refers to bifurcation between haves and have-nots. Another focused on what it’s like to be a young person starting out in Wisconsin in search of economic mobility. “Building Wisconsin’s Talent Pipeline” was about educating tomorrow’s workers today. “Wisconsin’s Next Big Bets” outlined emerging technologies and industries that could help the state stand out in a crowd.

There were other panels and presentations, as well, with aspirations for statewide growth being the binding theme.

Achieving growth won’t be easy in Wisconsin, however, as the state swims against some tides over which it has limited control or which require legislative action.

  • The state is showing moderate population growth (about one-fourth of 1 percent per year), but it’s not evenly distributed. Dane County is growing quickly while rural areas and even Milwaukee are basically flat. The population is also skewing older as “baby boomers” enter retirement years. Wisconsin’s declining percentage of working-age adults is slightly bolstered by state-to-state migration, but international immigration is sharply down. Ask any dairy farmer or building contractor about the latter.
  • The tax structure is not built for business attraction. Wisconsin taxes income at rates beginning at 3.5% and rising to 7.65%, with its top rate being higher than all other Midwest states except Minnesota (9.85%). Nine of 50 states don’t tax income at all; 15 already have a flat rate or are transitioning to a flat rate. If state taxes on capital gains were lowered, it could attract businesses from high-tax states on either coast.
  • Some of Wisconsin’s core industries have been hard hit by tariffs, with manufacturing, agriculture, construction and downstream users of steel and aluminum among them. Canada is the state’s No. 1 trading partner and second on its foreign direct investment list. Picking a fight with our neighbor to the north makes little sense. 
  • Good housing can be hard to find, especially in rural and urban core areas. 
  • Health care quality, costs and access are better in Wisconsin than many states, but there’s still a perfect storm of more aging and chronically ill people and not enough clinicians to take care of them. It’s a national supply and demand issue.
  • Excellent research is a hallmark of Wisconsin’s colleges and universities, but declines in federal research dollars have hurt. Home-grown bright spots include nuclear fission and fusion, quantum computing and infectious disease control, although the current White House doesn’t seem to believe another pandemic could be on the horizon.

None of that is to suggest economic summits and similar conferences, such as the simultaneous G20 trade prelude in Milwaukee, are akin to whistling past the graveyard. In fact, they are important group exercises involving people who should be talking more among themselves to bring key policies forward.

But don’t expect such summits to lead to results immediately. For example, the 1985 commission called for “appropriate merger of (UW) campuses,” which only recently gathered steam. It also urged action to bring Milwaukee and Madison “closer together, in travel time and spirit,” including a specific recommendation to consider a “high-speed passenger rail line.”

A lot of people are still waiting at that train station.

Still is past president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. He is an adviser to Competitive Wisconsin Inc., a non-profit public policy group.