The Milwaukee 7

The Milwaukee 7, launched in September 2005, was formed to create a regional, cooperative economic development platform for the seven counties of southeastern Wisconsin: Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Waukesha and Washington.  Its mission is to attract, retain and grow diverse businesses and talent.

Together, these seven counties have a wealth of corporate headquarters, a pool of highly skilled workers and world-class amenities.  Competing as a region broadens our range of choices and opportunities and gives us the competitive edge that we need, today, and into the future.

Perhaps the most historically significant advancement for the Milwaukee 7 was a signing of the group’s “Code of Ethics.” On November 29, 2006, a representative from each county and the Milwaukee 7 co-chairs signed this document that details the spirit of cooperation among the seven counties as they approach business prospects.

With this document, these representatives agreed to an inherent level of trust in the integrity of one another. Milwaukee 7 is founded on the importance of respect and trust amongst its members, working as one region to leverage our assets to sell the seven-county region globally.

MILWAUKEE 7: ACCELERATING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

In 2007, the Milwaukee 7 spent time focusing its vision through the development of a Strategic Framework, and building an agenda around the principle that our best customers are those companies that export a majority of goods and services outside the region - our "export drivers."

The Strategic Framework aligns our export drivers with our regional assets to determine where the best opportunities lie.  The framework identified "opportunity zones" in the industries of next generation manufacturing, financial services, headquarter operations and information technology.

In terms of deliverables, the first thing we did was put the right tools in place:

• We have an award-winning website, ChooseMilwaukee.com that in its first year had more than 100,000 unique visitors, 2.3 million hits and 560,000 pageviews
  
  
• A business resource center that offers interactive tools to assist businesses with relocation and expansion activities
  
  
• A business call program that has interviewed 470 CEOs and will next call on heads of financial services and headquartered companies
  
  
• Research that helps us objectively compare data on our region with others
  
  
• International outreach through trade missions and the creation of a foreign investor zone for the region, the only federally designated urban zone in the Midwest     

You can't play the economic development game without a team on the field.  Milwaukee 7 now has a dedicated staff that can respond quickly to requests for proposals and guide companies through the relocation or expansion process.  Recent business attraction and expansion wins include Germanischer Lloyd, C&D Technologies and Gehl Corporation in West Bend, which decided to build its new research and development facility in the region. 

Through the efforts of the Milwaukee 7, eight companies have either new or expanded operations in the Milwaukee Region, with a regional impact of more than 3,400 jobs. 

The Milwaukee 7 has also created councils to address regional public policy, next generation manufacturing and the emerging water research industry.  Each of these councils is building strategies by engaging regional players and empowering groups to act.

The Next Generation Manufacturing Council is implementing strategies to improve manufacturing capabilities and make our manufacturing base more technology driven, innovative, lean, agile and skilled. The Water Council is aligning the regional water research community and water-related industries to establish the region as the global capital for freshwater research, economic development and education. 

A display of regional collaboration was showcased in 2007 by a group of area companies that came together to attend a national recruitment fair under a regional banner. With support from FUEL Milwaukee and the Milwaukee 7, eight companies headquartered in the region formed a "consortium" to promote their job opportunities to candidates at the 29th annual National Black MBA Association Conference in September.

A preview of our 2008 work includes executing on our strategies with a continued focus on our region's export driver industries and emerging business clusters.

One of the most critical components of our strategies is workforce development.  A $5 million talent development strategy will address one of our region's greatest challenges in attracting and retaining employers: a shortage of qualified and educated employees.

The plan creates a Regional Workforce Alliance that will coordinate efforts ranging from improving prospective employees' "soft skills" to encouraging more high school students to pursue technical careers.

Bringing international exposure to the region will be the 40th annual Midwest U.S.-Japan Association Conference, to be held in September in Milwaukee.  The event, to be hosted by Gov. Doyle, will bring in as many as 400 international business leaders, with events at the Milwaukee Art Museum and new Harley-Davidson Museum.