MADISON, Wisconsin, March 19, 2026 – The Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy (CROWE) today released its new report titled “The Economic Impact of Exact Sciences on Dane County and Wisconsin.” Given the pending acquisition by Abbott Laboratories, this seems like an appropriate time to step back and evaluate Exact Sciences’ contributions to the Wisconsin economy.
“Exact Sciences relocated its headquarters to Madison in 2009 and has since grown to approximately 3,500 Wisconsin employees and $3.2 billion in annual revenue,” said Ananth Seshadri, Mary Sue and Mike Shannon Distinguished Chair and CROWE Director. “While the $38 million in performance-based state and local incentives provided some assistance — particularly the initial $1 million in 2009 — the company raised more than $5 billion from private and public investors during the same period. Our analysis shows that the primary drivers of the relocation and subsequent growth were the UW–Madison talent pipeline, the University Research Park, WARF’s technology transfer operations, and the biotech agglomeration effects that developed around the firm.”
The report estimates what Dane County’s economy would have looked like without Exact Sciences by constructing a weighted combination of eleven similar Midwestern university counties to serve as a statistical “twin” for Dane County, tracking the period before the firm’s 2009 relocation from Massachusetts.
a. Exact Sciences’ approximately 3,500 Wisconsin jobs have generated a total local employment impact of roughly 20,650 jobs through multiplier and agglomeration effects.
b. The firm contributes an estimated $6–7 billion annually to Wisconsin’s GDP, or 1.7–2.0% of the state economy.
c. Despite Wisconsin ranking near the bottom nationally in new business formation rates according to the Kauffman Foundation, a small number of large-scale successes such as Epic Systems and Exact Sciences in a city anchored by a major research university like Madison can still produce outsized economic effects for the entire state.
d. When innovative companies cluster around strong research universities, they create powerful ripple effects across the economy. Strengthening flagship universities and research parks — along with business development and entrepreneurship — is often a smarter long-term strategy for job creation and growth than direct subsidies to individual companies.
Seshadri added: “This demonstrates how public research institutions like UW-Madison can serve as powerful catalysts for private-sector growth, innovation and job creation. In so many respects, this reflects the Wisconsin Idea working effectively.”
About CROWE:
The Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy (CROWE) was established in 2017 within the Department of Economics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. CROWE’s mission is to support and disseminate economic policy research from a market perspective, with a particular focus on the Wisconsin economy and state-level economic policy issues. The work at CROWE spans three main areas: research, student engagement, and public outreach.
For more information on CROWE, visit crowe.wisc.edu/
For questions on the report, email Ananth Seshadri at ananth.seshadri@wisc.edu
To download the full report, go.wisc.edu/exact-sciences-impact
