Doyle's budget includes money for hard-hit communities, manufacturing

Jenny Price

The governor's budget proposal includes more than $1 million in additional funding for agencies that support smaller manufacturers and $5 million for a new effort to give grants to companies that create at least 100 new jobs in struggling areas.

Commerce Secretary Mary Burke said the grants are "vital to some of the communities that haven't shared in the economic growth that we've seen in the last couple of years." In order to qualify, businesses would have to create new jobs in cities with 150 percent of the statewide unemployment rate.

Wisconsin's jobless rate, not adjusted for seasonal fluctuations, was 4.2 percent for December, which means only communities with unemployment at 6.3 percent and higher would be eligible.

That would include Beloit, where the jobless rate has topped 8 percent.

"We're usually at the top, unfortunately, in those categories," said Andrew Janke, the city's economic development director. When the time comes to compete for classification, "I can't imagine who would be more competitive than Beloit." Both Adams and Juneau counties have also seen their unemployment numbers reach those levels.

The program would have a couple of catches: The jobs must pay at least 90 percent of new workers a "family- supporting wage," something the Commerce Department hasn't defined yet, and employers must try to fill at least three-fourths of the new positions with people who live in the community.

Janke said that requirement could present a problem for Beloit because a lot of people who work in the city don't live there.

"Sometimes these cookie-cutter programs don't reflect the reality of a regional marketplace," he said.

Still, Janke said he welcomed the idea and what the extra incentives for employers to locate in economically depressed communities could mean for Beloit.

"We are always looking for new opportunities and new programs that help us be more competitive," he said.

The grants can cover costs for up to five years, including worker training, employee transportation, on-site child care, wages and utilities.

Budget plan would boost manufacturing outreach Doyle's budget also calls for a $1.3 million increase in funding for the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the Northwest Wisconsin Manufacturing Outreach Center, which help small- and medium-sized manufacturers increase productivity and find new markets. That would raise the state's investment in their efforts to $3 million for the two-year budget period that starts in July.

The influx of state money would allow the state to qualify for more federal matching grants, said Mike Klonsinski, WMEP's executive director. And he said that will allow the partnership to increase the number of manufacturers it can assist by 25 percent to 30 percent; WMEP has about 200 manufacturers under contract on any given day.

"We never want to be in a spot where we have to tell people they have to wait or we can't work with them," he said.

Manufacturers pay a small fee in exchange for hands-on help from WMEP, which looks for ways companies can cut operating costs without hurting their profit margins.

"It allows them to survive and really win in a tougher, competitive manufacturing environment," Klonsinski said.

The partnership worked with Middletonbased American Laser Products Inc., which sells re-manufactured laser printer toner cartridges.

With WMEP's help, the firm eliminated waste from production and reduced costs, slashing inventory 80 percent and increasing productivity 20 percent.

Burke, former director of forecasting and planning at Trek Bicycle Corp. in Waterloo, sees the additional money for the partnerships as a key to helping Wisconsin manufacturers adopt new technology and build more innovation into their products and operations.

That's how Trek, which has about $500 million in annual sales, has succeeded and increased its headcount in the state, she said.

"I think supporting our existing manufacturers and helping them become as competitive as possible, to compete in what is now really a global economy, is absolutely crucial."

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