Return to sectors
  
An all-star panel of regional industry leaders assessed the current state of Greater Madison’s economy and forecast what’s to come during this week’s State of the Sectors, the Chamber's annual look at the trends shaping our businesses and industries.
During a rotating blend of one-to-one conversations, our panelists – Seth Hain of Epic, Jessica Martin Eckerly of Forward BIOLABS, Juan Gomez of the Madison Development Corporation, Rochelle Klaskin of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, Craig Stanley of Broadwing Advisors and Aaron Olver of University Research Park – shared insights on topics including industry health, the investment landscape, housing challenges, and office use and expansion. They agreed on the value of Greater Madison's ecosystem and how important it is for industry growth, as well as talent recruitment and retention.
During his presentation, Chamber Vice President Kevin Little said this past year has been about the return and whether we could return to pre-pandemic levels of employment growth, workforce and mobility. While hard-hit industries, airport traffic and pedestrian counts have not yet reached pre-pandemic levels – and challenges remain on the way to inclusive economic growth – he said Greater Madison continues to show national strength in STEM fields and see encouraging data points, including leading the nation in share of Gen Z hires.
Thanks again to Lead Sponsor University Research Park and Accelerate Sponsor Johnson Financial Group for supporting this event.
For additional coverage of State of the Sectors, visit the Cap Times, NBC15 and WisBusiness.com.
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A big swing on childcare
Dr. Jack Daniels III (President of Madison College) and Jody Bartnick (VP of Community Impact for the United Way of Dane County) joined us today for Lunch(UP)date, presented by Perkins Coie.
During the program, Dr. Daniels and Bartnick discussed the challenges posed by lack of childcare access and steps that they and other business and community organizations are taking to resolve those challenges. Both agreed the system is broken due to low wages for childcare workers leading to an insufficient workforce capacity. They said childcare is an economic staple for our community and that quality childcare options are closely linked to wages and retainability for childcare professionals, making it imperative to resolve this issue.
Dr. Daniels and Bartnick said that strong public-private partnerships will be critical to addressing this challenge. With an effective and collaborative approach, they believe Dane County can serve as a model for the nation in getting this right.
View the full recording of Lunch(UP)date here.
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Looking around the bend
As discussed during State of the Sectors, there has been considerable progress over the past year in restoring Greater Madison's pre-pandemic economic momentum.
As the culmination of our annual Pressure Chamber initiative, for the first time in three years we brought emerging Greater Madison companies – including Pressure Chamber winner Voximetry – to San Francisco for investor meetings. We celebrated numerous Chamber member milestones at home, including the groundbreaking of the new 29,000-square-foot addition on Accuray’s Madison campus and the ribbon cutting for SSM Health's new South Madison Campus. As noted above, we also continued our partnership with United Way of Dane County in finding solutions to childcare challenges.
As excited as we are about our economic accomplishments this year, we have even more to look forward to as we look around the bend. On the heels of launching the Dije Data Sharing Pledge at Annual Dinner, we are set to launch as part of the Dije platform a new recruitment site that will serve both organizations looking for diverse talent and talent of color looking for new opportunities. We also announced the creation of N2, a new workgroup to understand and prepare for the Next Normal.
Stay tuned for further details about these initiatives soon.
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The art of the network effect
We have another Chamber event coming next week, and it's a big one – or, more specifically, it's a Big Night Out!
This Wednesday, Dec. 7, we will come together for drinks, appetizers and networking at the Arts + Literature Laboratory, a community space supporting the visual and literary arts, music and performance, and youth and adult arts education. With 123 attendees already registered, there will be plenty of opportunities for great connections.
Sign up here for this free-for-members event.
Big Night Out is presented by U.S. Bank, with support from Accelerate Sponsor Catalent and Kraus-Anderson, and Small and Emerging Business Sponsor EZ Office Products.
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We B excited for these IB honorees
In Business magazine announced its 2023 Executives of the Year, with four of the six honorees representing Chamber member businesses!
Those four winners are:
-- George Cullen, Co-president, JP Cullen
-- Renee Moe, President and CEO, United Way of Dane County
-- Wes Schroll, Co-founder and CEO, Fetch Rewards
-- Peter Vogel, President and CEO, Vogel Bros. Building Co.
The executives will be honored at an event on Jan. 18 at the Overture Center. To learn more and to register for that event, visit here.
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