It’s exciting to see that the Milwaukee area will work with the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase in a four-year project – called the Exchange Network – to expand the area’s global trade and improve its economic position.
The other metro areas taking part are Atlanta; Greenville, S.C.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Indianapolis; Phoenix; Sacramento, Calif.; and Wichita, Kan.
"For the Exchange, we selected metro areas that are committed to expanding their global economic reach by working together to identify regional competitive strengths and increase exports," said Brad McDearman, Brookings fellow.
"The eight metro areas selected for this round represent a growing group of U.S. metro areas that understand the need to embrace the global market to remain competitive in the 21st century economy."
This good news made me think, though. How do we define "Milwaukee?"
Metro Milwaukee, greater Milwaukee or Milwaukeeland. Whatever you call it, "it" is way more than merely the City or County of Milwaukee.
Check U.S. Census Bureau numbers and you’ll see that as counties Southeastern Wisconsin governs and operates in an outdated and inefficient manner. More than 50 percent of residents in Washington, Ozaukee and Waukesha counties work in Milwaukee County.
Sixty-five percent of Ozaukee County residents are employed outside of Ozaukee County, while only 28 percent of Milwaukee County residents work outside of Milwaukee County. We’re a region, not just counties or cities. And, Milwaukee – the city – is the linchpin and entertainment and economic heart of the entire state.
So, in planning, development and more it only behooves civic leaders to collaborate and focus on regional issues and growth. Sure, parochialism will always come into play and sometimes it should rear its head, but true regional and county cooperation – which is of course, is hard – is necessary.
The leaders of the Milwaukee Region’s Exchange team will join those of the other accepted metropolitan areas at Brookings in Washington, D.C., in December to participate in their first working group session, where they will learn how to develop an export plan as part of a global economic development strategy.
Let’s hope this initiative continues to push Milwaukee as a greater Milwaukee.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
