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In Marketplace Commentary

By Steve Jagler Special to OnMilwaukee.com E-mail author | Author bio More articles by Steve Jagler

Published Jan. 10, 2008 at 5:35 p.m.

Tags: public policy forum, coors, oilgear, robert w. baird, mps, bucyrus, manpower, spirit of milwaukee, amhaus

The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce is working hard to convince Miller Brewing Co. and Molson Coors Brewing Co. executives to locate their combined headquarters in Colorado, rather than Milwaukee.

Denver's effort received a huge a boost from a rather strange place Thursday: from Milwaukee's business community.

Five of the Milwaukee area's most prominent chief executive officers were featured in a panel discussion on "Global Wooing" Thursday by the Public Policy Forum. The five CEOs took turns ripping Milwaukee as a terrible place to do business.

The CEOs jointly described Milwaukee as a region with a broken public education system, runaway health care costs and an anti-capitalistic mindset. They said Milwaukee's taxes are too high, and the region doesn't know how to market itself, suffers from a lack of leadership, has wasteful government spending and doesn't provide enough tax incentives to attract and keep businesses and create jobs.

And when they were done criticizing the region as a terrible place to do business, they piled on and did it again. And again.

Paul Purcell, CEO of Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., criticized Milwaukee Public Schools and called for more charter schools and choice schools. "We need to fix MPS," he said.
Purcell also denounced Wisconsin's "bureaucracy and tax structure."

John Shiely, CEO of Briggs & Stratton Inc., was asked if he would consider building a new manufacturing plant here.

"We probably wouldn't, to tell you the truth," Shiely said.

Shiely criticized the collective mindset of Milwaukee, saying the region is more likely to have a great-grandson of "one of Milwaukee's socialist mayors" denounce the gap in salaries between CEOs and front-line workers than it is to encourage the creation of wealth.

"That shouldn't be ... You just don't hear the 'two Americas' rhetoric (down South)," Shiely said.

Rick Armbrust, CEO of Oilgear Co., said he is warmly welcomed and embraced by Chinese government officials when he visits that country.

"Come to Milwaukee ... And you don't find that," Armbrust said.

Likewise, Tim Sullivan, CEO of Bucyrus International Inc., said he was courted by local governmental officials when he visited Idaho and Texas to consider plant expansions there. By contrast, in Milwaukee, "It was like bouncing off the walls trying to get someone to talk to ... We don't do anything other states do. We have to emulate these other states to try to attract and keep companies."

Jeff Joerres, CEO of Manpower Inc., said, "We're not breaking rules to say, 'Come here.'"

Purcell said his company has difficulty persuading top young talent to come to Milwaukee, where employers increasingly are facing the additional challenge of finding employment for the spouses of job candidates.

"In Chicago, they have 15 opportunities, and in Milwaukee, they have one," Purcell said.

Purcell said Milwaukee should stop trying to compete with Chicago and should instead collaborate more with the Windy City and Madison.

Purcell drew applause from the crowd of more than 200 business and civic leaders when he said southeastern Wisconsin needs high-speed rail to be more competitive.

Joerres said the region needs to do a more effective job of promoting its image to the "25-year-olds" in other markets.

"In many ways, we're not known for much ... What if you put in light rail?" Joerres said. "I think as a city, we've got to get out in front."

Joerres read aloud a national news story about a company that moved its headquarters to North Carolina.

Shiely, who said Milwaukee has a bad "tone," told a story about the cheaper labor his company finds for its plant in Kentucky.

When asked about the need for taxes to support quality-of-life initiatives, such as public parks, Sullivan said local governments were inefficient and duplicative.

"We are squandering millions of (dollars) of federal money," Sullivan said.

Meanwhile, the folks at the Milwaukee 7, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce and the Spirit of Milwaukee are doing all they can to try convince companies such as Miller/Molson Coors to put their headquarters in Milwaukee.

Good luck with that, now.

Dean Amhaus, president of Spirit of Milwaukee, attended the Public Policy Luncheon and listened to the CEOs' comments.

"Do we have things we need to address and grow and change? Absolutely. That's why Milwaukee 7 was created, to address that. One of the first things was to get us all on the same page, so when someone did call us, they didn't have 35 phone numbers to call. Milwaukee 7 has only been around two years. Places like North Carolina have been doing this for decades. The other thing is places like North Carolina use a huge amount of government dollars to do that. Ours is mostly privately driven," Amhaus told SBT after the forum.

"We are our own worst enemy. We have to move past the glass is half empty to the glass is half full, and I think we've made significant progress. We will continue to keep championing the positives. Time in and time out, we have people come to the Milwaukee region, and they are amazed to see what we have got going on here, and they are quick to sing our praises."

The forum also was attended by Jeff Sherman, president of OnMilwaukee.com, which is one of the strongest voices of advocacy for the region. After the event, Sherman called for a more positive dialog among its corporate leaders.

"We heard many valid 'criticisms' today, but we are tired of hearing CEOs complain about the 'bad tone' in Milwaukee," Sherman said. "Let's tell the positive Milwaukee stories and dive in to address the negatives."

23 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by b on Jan. 26, 2008 at 1:06 a.m. (report)

Milwaukee's biggest problem is that its economy was traditionally (and largely still is) based on manufacturing. To stay competitive, manufacturing is moving to lower cost areas, and being that Wisconsin is not a "right to work" state the unskilled labor gets paid more than many places and this puts Wisc at a disadvantage. Milwaukee's taxes may be high compared to the south (Due in some part to superior public employee pay and that it costs us more money to put up bridges and buildings with union workers), but real estate and labor costs are still reasonable compared with the coasts, so as far as the cost of doing business goes, we're probably someplace in the middle nationally. I can't really say how backward our bureaucracies are to work with, but I've lived many places and I doubt Milwaukee is the only one with those issues. I'm also pretty confident that inner city school systems are pretty much garbage nationwide, so MPS is no exception. But the biggest issue for why Milwaukee and Wisconsin are growing slower than the nation as a whole is dependance on manufacturing. As much as CEOs talk about business climates and whatnot, there's a lot of inertia involved in moving a business. That's one reason why despite crazy taxes and costs businesses still stay in pricey places like SF, NY, and LA. The businesses that thrive in those locales all have high margins though. We should probably compete harder for those kind of businesses (financial services, technology, aerospace, ...) but since most job growth in any city comes from its existing industries, Milwaukee needs to keep regulations and taxes to a minimum and let them thrive.

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Posted by improveorlose on Jan. 19, 2008 at 8:19 p.m. (report)

3 Cheers on comments from this young professional transplant to our metro area and may he grow in his work, bring his friends here and provide corporate as well as community leadership for our region and for his generation. The CEO's candid comments causing so much stir could be echoed by many more of us who lead companies in our Economic 7 Region, but note not one of them suggested they want to leave, just that we must do better. We stay because we do like it here but we must improve faster so listen closely or we will fall behind! Suffication of motivation due to decades of negative bureacracy can cause many bright minds to run for more positive pastures. Bringing up deficiencies in management is what we do in industry to survive and to these CEO's, continuous improvements is their lifes work, to allow their businesses to remain competitive in global markets now and in the future. Simply Improve or Lose Your Place!

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Posted by drumeez on Jan. 15, 2008 at 7:01 a.m. (report)

I think the biggest problems are the rhetoric. MPS is bad, government is too liberal, there is a bad tone, and so on and so forth. People rarely give specifics and/or examples of why they feel this way. Out of 20+ comments only few have examples or comparisons. Here are a few observations and only that: the arguments against MPS, Government, and taxes come from a feeling that our government is irresponsible. Where is the proof to a change in political climate from far left to far right make a difference? I haven't seen it. Is it actually the party backing or the people? I think it's the people. Where is the proof that the privatization of education is better than MPS, I haven't seen it. The privatization of health care isn't working, (cost being another complaint) and sure MPS needs help but it needs our help. Business and government both need to be more responsible... to the people of Wisconsin and the world. So some things for everyone to think about. Is being fiscally conservative a discipline truly practiced by the right that hold office? No Are the lefties in office actually serving the poor and minorities that are typically courted in an election year? Are they truly socially responsible? No and no Should CEO's have some sense of responsibility toward local and global communities? of course! Here's a funny truth: Business should always work to serve the consumer in order to ensure long term growth. Government in a democracy is supposed to represent, be chosen by, and serve THE PEOPLE. We are consumer and person, but business and government are bickering about serving each other and not the people. If government and business were responsible this back and forth wouldn't have even happened and we are all to blame for allowing them to continue this game greed and power. Damien Jones-damien@paradigmpulse.com(yes im including my name and email)

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Posted by ChateauDweller on Jan. 12, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. (report)

An interesting and related observation: Recently, I was speaking with some retired and soon-to-be-retired City employees. Each one had put in about 20 years for the city. After a few beers, questionable jokes and some shared adulations for HBO'S The Wire, they began discussing the problems in our city. I stayed quite (always hard for me!) because I knew that whatever I said would be irrelevant dribble compared to their experiences. Of course, they disagreed on a bunch of things where their personal political perspective probably clouded their objectivity (just like it does for all of us). However, they described a facinating observation: Our leadership vaccum within the confines of local government stems from a drastic shift in the culture of those who work for our public entities. The idea of "Noblesse Oblige" has left City Hall. Workng in the higher ranks of our local government used to be thought of as an important and noble function, and city workers truely and deeply cared about the city. Now, the majority of our civil servants view their job as just a job. I don't view this as a criticism of those individuals who do not share the passion as the generation before them. This shift has probably happened in every community; probably because compensation in the private sector has risen drastically. For example: City Attorney, Grant Langley, is facing a very tough election for the first time this year. From all accounts, he has served the city with honor and hard work for a very long time. This department was always viewed as "the protectors of the city's bank account," acting without political influence. Those who support his opponent do so without consideration of our city's welfare, but with an eye on polical captial and monetary gain. Another related observation: If you get the chance, rent the first season of The Wire. You'll become hooked. It is a fantastic and honest look at the issues and problems in urban America.

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Posted by MilwaukeeMan on Jan. 12, 2008 at 9:08 a.m. (report)

"work hard, takes risks, start up your own business, and create wealth for our city" that talkback seems what onmilwaukee.com did. no one wants just rose colored glasses, they need tint ... but only wearing tinted glasses makes too many too negative.

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Show me the other 18 Talkbacks

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