Wisconsin's economic leaders will gather in Milwaukee for the third annual Wisconsin Economic Summit today. The theme of this year's conference, which will run through Wednesday, is \Taking Steps to Move Wisconsin Forward.""
While the first two summits aimed to identify the economic sectors most in need of help, this one will look to collaborate on programs and actions that will benefit those areas.
""[This summit] will build upon the dialogue that took place among key stakeholders at the first two summits,"" Katherine Lyall, UW System president and co-chair of the event said in a press release.
Organized by the UW Board of Regents, the summit will offer over 30 sessions and workshops, ranging from topics such as entrepreneurial efforts to partnerships across neighboring states. One facet that the summits always stress, however, is the importance of the economic cohesion between the state and the UW System.
""There are lots of ways that the university can and does help the state economy,"" Tony Hozemy, public information manager for the Wisconsin Department of Commerce said. ""One way is through the small business centers that are located on every campus around the state, which offer training to anyone wishing to launch their own small business. Another avenue is through technology transfer. With UW-Madison being a major biotech research center, it can help transfer workable technologies to similar business centers nearby.""
Don Nichols, a professor of economics at UW-Madison and an advisor to the event said that the universities especially benefited the newer areas of the economy.
""Many newer areas of the economy are high-tech, and these are usually areas in which recently most graduates and students are interested in,"" he said.
Whether between the university and the state or between similar in-state business fields, the key to moving Wisconsin's economy forward is collaboration, summit officials say.
""It is very important that we collaborate'across communities, across regions and across the state,"" said UW Board of Regents member and co-Chair Jay Smith in a keynote address at this fall's WEDA convention. ""If our state is to prosper, collaboration is a must.""
Nichols said that he saw partnerships between local printing and technology industries as examples of how such collaboration can assist the overall economy.
""The concept of moving forward is the idea of organizing competing clusters of firms, so that they can not only have positive scientific and technological benefits for themselves and the community but so they can also have a bigger impact on the economy,"" Nichols said.
One way the summit is hoping to encourage business alliances is by the presentation of plans to create the Wisconsin Economic Collaboration Council.
""The basic concept for this council would be that although these summits do help, there is the feeling that there needs to be an entity that keeps track of the progress of development that the summit sparks,"" Hozemy said.
Progress, which according to Smith's address, may not come easy or overnight.
""We are in a fight for the state's economic future, it could go either way,"" he said. ""The jury is still out, but it is a fight that will not be won in a day or a month or a year. We have to be committed for the long haul.\
