Milwaukee Biz Blog

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC) recently made a $750,000 investment in the Water Research and Business Accelerator Center in Milwaukee. This investment in the water technology research and business incubator is a prime example of WEDC’s new target industry investment strategy.

WEDC’s approach is innovative and a more effective approach to target industry advancement than traditional approaches. 

Traditional cluster strategies use statistical data to identify concentrations of like-coded companies, or identify the next “hot” industry sector and declare these as target industries, regardless of actual industry support or realistic opportunity.  WEDC’s targeted industry approach delivers customized solutions to accelerate business consortia that exhibits strong industry leadership, has a defined plan for growth and has realistic potential for strong and long-term economic impact. 

This new targeted-industry investment strategy by WEDC has a number of advantages.  First, it is not government picking winners or losers but a market-led strategy that accelerates already promising opportunities. Second, it does not apply a one-size fits all solution but provides an approach tailored to the consortia needs. Third, it maximizes the impact of taxpayer dollars by co-investing in solutions that are likely to yield the best results.  For example, WEDC also supports the trucking consortia’s efforts to increase the number of truck drivers and diesel mechanics by coordinating WEDC, Department of Workforce Development, and technical college solutions.  

Wisconsin is fortunate to have a number of existing and emerging consortia opportunities to drive regional and statewide job growth. Many of these are part of our strong manufacturing base – an industry characterized by export, strong job multipliers, and high R & D investment. Industry sectors such as water technology, defense vehicle manufacturing, energy storage and biotechnology-related equipment and processes also hold promise for growth. These sectors provide economic diversity and support quality jobs throughout the state.

Here’s why Wisconsin’s water technology industry is a target industry worthy of support. It has strong industry leadership through the Milwaukee Water Council; a concentration of key globally competitive businesses in Wisconsin; and the strong support of local and state resources.
WEDC’s investment to underwrite the rent of start-up water research and technology companies at the Accelerator Center is a unique solution designed to move the entrepreneur from the start-up and research and development stages to the product development and marketing stages. Our customized industry support doesn’t stop there. WEDC will expand water technology growth through exports by hosting a trade mission to India, April 22-May 1, 2012.

WEDC’s identification and investment in the water technology cluster is an example of WEDC’s new, innovative, market-pull approach to target industry growth in the state.  This approach will accelerate the growth of more industry-led consortia in Wisconsin. 

Paul Jadin is the CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC).

We are turning things around.  We are heading in the right direction.  We are moving Wisconsin forward. 

In 2011, we added thousands of private sector jobs and the unemployment rate is down from a year ago.  In fact, it’s the lowest it has been since 2008. 

In the past, 150,000 of our fellow citizens lost their jobs in the private sector.  Two years ago, a mere 10 percent of our employers thought that Wisconsin was headed in the right direction. 

In contrast, we created a better environment for job creation in our state over the past year.  Now, 94 percent of our employers say Wisconsin is headed in the right direction.  A majority of those employers say that they plan on growing in 2012. 

To help small businesses continue to grow, our Wisconsin Working jobs plan helps connect job seekers to employers and to the skills that they need to fill those jobs.  Our initiatives have broad, bi-partisan support.   

To continue to grow our economy, we also needed to address the fiscal crisis we inherited.  Last January, Wisconsin faced a $3.6 billion budget deficit. 

We balanced that budget deficit.  Unlike other states, we did it without raising taxes, without massive layoffs and without budget tricks.  That allowed us to put more than $1.2 billion (one of the biggest increases in the country) into Medicaid to support programs that help needy families, children and seniors. 

Property taxpayers also benefited from our reforms.  For the five years prior to my talking office, the average school tax levy increased $220 million per year.  Our reforms led to the first decrease in the school property tax levy in six years.

We proved that we can have great schools and protect the taxpayers.  We just have to spend our money more wisely. 

In the past, schools were often forced to buy their health insurance from just one company.  Now, they can bid it out and school districts are saving millions. 

As the father of two students in a public high school in Wisconsin, I am thankful for our great schools and outstanding teachers.  That’s why I’m glad schools can now staff based on merit and pay based on performance.  That means we can put the best and the brightest in our classrooms, and we can keep them there. 

Looking ahead, we have a plan to improve reading in our state through our Read to Lead initiative.  We want to be certain that every child is reading early so they don’t ever feel that learning isn’t for them. 

We are also working with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers on a system to hold schools and school districts accountable to educators, parents, employers and each community.  Our system will help replicate success and help fix problems.   

Overall, we are working hard to help the people of our state create more jobs, continue to balance our budget and make sure that every kid has access to a great education.  Working together, I know we can improve Wisconsin.

We made some tough decisions over the past year because I didn’t want to pass on a mess to my kids and others like them.  We thought more about the next generation than we did about the next election.  We kept our promises. 

Thankfully, we are turning things around and are heading in the right direction. Together, we will continue to move Wisconsin forward.

Scott Walker is the governor of Wisconsin.

Most business owners have some way of intuitively understanding how their company is doing. That insight could be based on any number of factors, including new orders, shipments, machine hours, labor activity, etc.

In effect, those are key performance indicators – information that owners and managers rely upon to keep their companies on track toward specific goals. As a company grows and the owner gets busier or as business conditions change, it’s important to formalize those indicators and develop a dashboard that exists outside the mind of the owner.
As we look toward 2012, now is the time to develop or revisit those factors that drive the business and ensure growth. Use the following suggestions to identify key performance indicators and develop your dashboard.
There are numerous financial and operational factors that can be viewed as key performance indicators, including: revenue; orders; time to ship; labor hours; machine hours; inventory runs; accounts receivable statistics; backlog; new customers acquired; staff turnover; returns; and working capital.

Each of those areas has subsets and circumstances unique to an industry and to a specific business within that industry. Key performance indicators should reflect a company’s goals and be quantifiable and actionable. The goals become the benchmark against which ongoing data is judged and responses considered. 

Along with company-wide key performance indicators, departments can have their own indicators based on their roles in reaching the company’s overall goals.

The structure that conveys key performance indicators can be in the form of written weekly activity reports or flash reports, spreadsheets, charts or some other numbers-based overview.

Dashboards offer quick review
While those forms are valuable, today’s technology offers an even quicker way for time-pressed executives to review current information – the computer screen dashboard. Like the dashboard on a car, a computer screen dashboard can offer company owners and managers a quick look at current business conditions, and allow them to make adjustments based on the numbers.

The best dashboards use graphic displays that allow the user to quickly grasp the situation and determine what steps could be taken in response to the information.
Like any business activity monitoring, dashboards can provide information tailored to the specific needs of a particular business or to replicate the data the business owner intuitively followed during a less formal stage of the company’s life.

Data is real-time
One of the great benefits of dashboards is that information is pushed to them from the underlying financial systems so data and charts that are displayed are always real-time.

A dashboard can relay financial statistics as well as information on activities and processes within the operation. Since the dashboards are intended for a quick overview, it’s best to select a limited number of key indicators that you find meaningful. In this case, less is better. Too much information can make dashboards overbearing and, over time, ignored.

Key performance indicator dashboards can be built as a custom software application or acquired as an available product or web-based subscription service.

While dashboards can be convenient, what really matters is the consistency of information a business owner or management team receives. Through that consistency trends can be observed, allowing proper responses.

John Lauber is a CPA and president of LauberCFOs, a firm that pioneered the part-time CFO model. The company provides top financial talent to companies in Wisconsin on a part-time, interim or permanent basis and currently serves as chief financial officer for dozens of small and medium-sized businesses.

Wisconsin has a long tradition of hard working people. Our statehood has its roots in agriculture and mining, and soon after that our state began growing its strength in manufacturing, too.

Wisconsin consistently ranks near the top of states with a manufacturing intensive economy. Our many skilled craftsmen produce large steel fabricated goods, machine tools, forgings, ships, and many other products. Our can-do work ethic lends itself to efficient, safe, and productive industries – we know how to “make it.”

Our agriculture sector is one of the best producers in the nation, leading the way in milk, cheese, and dairy products. I grew up on a dairy farm and apple orchard, so I know first-hand the hard work it takes to maintain farms and produce quality products.  Our Wisconsin farmers know how to “milk it.”

Finally, the third leg I see in Wisconsin’s trifecta of jobs is mining. Our history is rooted so much in mining that a miner appears on our flag and the badger is our state symbol, referring to the settlers that burrowed underground in mines. Unfortunately, Wisconsin’s mining laws in recent years have effectively made mining non-existent through an uncertain and open-ended process that discourages capital investment.

The bill to be considered by the State Assembly this week reforms the process by establishing clear and achievable standards to issue a permit for an iron ore mine. We can pass legislation that forms a reasonable process for active mining while still protecting our environment.

The result of encouraging the mining industry to come back to Wisconsin will mean thousands of jobs and new investment in our state. Jobs will be created around the state from Iron and Ashland Counties where the mine would be located to southeastern Wisconsin where mining equipment is manufactured. 

I believe we create a framework for environmentally responsible mining. It’s been done before and it can be done again. I want to revive and strengthen our state economy.  The way to do that is by creating new economic opportunities. This legislation does just that.  It’s an opportunity to attract new manufacturers to the state, retain manufacturers already here, and spark economic growth around Wisconsin to create family-supporting jobs. We must once again make it, milk it, and mine it to be successful in Wisconsin.

Mark Honadel is the State Representative for the 21st Assembly District, which includes South Milwaukee, Oak Creek and a part of Milwaukee.

It’s a foregone conclusion that Gov. Scott Walker won’t hit his goal of 250,000 new jobs in Wisconsin by 2015.

It’s also a fact that Wisconsin’s best interests are served if everyone keeps that ambitious job creation goal firmly in mind.

The rhetoricians who came up with Walker’s 250,000 new jobs figure during the 2010 campaign weren’t entirely out of touch with reality when they came up with the number. Wisconsin had about 2.7 million non-farm workers in the fall of 2010, so adding 250,000 jobs by the end of a standard gubernatorial term didn’t seem impossible. The 250,000 goal represented about 9.2 percent growth spread over four years – or roughly 2.3 percent growth per year.

Aggressive? Yes. Out of line with historic trends? Not completely, given what economists knew at the time.

In fact, Walker’s Democratic opponent in the 2010 general election, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, set a goal of creating 180,000 jobs over his four-year term. That’s about 1.6 percent job growth per year. So it’s not as if Democrats don’t buy the importance of setting vigorous economic goals.

If a recall election takes place sometime in 2012, no Democratic candidate will run on a platform of being timid about job creation. “Let’s settle for less” doesn’t make for a winning bumper sticker, even if it does fit. In politics as in business as in life, people respond to clear, aspirational goals.

So the real questions become how many jobs can Wisconsin realistically create over time – and what are the right strategies for getting there? Here’s what we know:

• According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 47,000 fewer jobs in Wisconsin in October 2011 than there were in October 2001. That’s a 10-year growth rate of minus 0.2 percent, which compared to 0.0 percent growth in Minnesota, minus 0.5 percent in Illinois, minus 0.1 percent in Iowa and minus 1.4 percent in Michigan. In short, flat job growth has been a regional phenomenon tied largely to the recession that began in late 2008 but also reflective of the manufacturing downturn that began much earlier.
• The Wisconsin Department of Revenue predicted in October, based on its internal modeling, that 136,000 would be added to the state’s private payrolls by 2015. When the final job figures for 2011 are crunched, Wisconsin will show a modest net gain for the year – but the pace must quicken to achieve even the Revenue Department’s prediction.
• Wisconsin may already be faring better than expected on job creation, at least in comparison to what other states are doing. A recent report by Economic Modeling Specialist Inc., a national firm headquartered in Idaho, examined all 50 states from the perspective of “expected” job creation in 2011 to actual performance. “Boom states” – mostly in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions – were best at beating expectations. Wisconsin ranked 22nd on the list, adding 10,745 more jobs than a national formula might predict.

Critics can pound Walker all they want for setting a lofty goal, and it was risky for him to suggest state policies alone would be enough to trump national and international mega-trends. It’s not Scott Walker’s fault that parts of the European Union are an economic basket case or that Congress and the White House can’t come to terms on the budget deficit – but it was his mistake not to anticipate how external factors could wash up on Wisconsin’s shores.

So, what’s next? The 250,000 goal can be second-guessed forever, and probably will be in a recall-election environment. But there’s little doubt that Wisconsin needs a stronger economy and strategic job-creation strategies. Democrats and Republicans alike should be able to agree on that. As the Legislature returns this month, there will be several opportunities for both sides to work together on key bills that can help the private sector do what only it can do – create jobs.

Barring an economic miracle, Wisconsin won’t have 250,000 new jobs by 2015. But the goal should remain as a constant reminder that everyone has a stake in creating a more productive, prosperous Wisconsin.

Tom Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council.

At the start of 2011, I returned to the great state of Wisconsin because of its people, their collective expertise, strong work ethic and ability to meet challenges head-on. For me, WHEDA was the place to be. WHEDA has worked for nearly 40 years to finance housing for lower income Wisconsin citizens and help them achieve fulfilled dreams.

Like the housing industry and Wisconsin’s economy, WHEDA was at a crossroads in 2011. Home ownership becomes meaningless and virtually unattainable without a good-paying job. So I enthusiastically accepted Governor Walker’s call to help in his goal of creating 250,000 private sector jobs by 2015.

The first step we must take is to reduce joblessness and increase household wealth across Wisconsin. How do we plan to do it? At WHEDA, we expanded the “ED” in our mission by leveraging our economic development programs with our housing finance knowledge. The beauty is that WHEDA maintained its long-standing housing commitment and strengthened its economic development mission to support Governor Walker’s goal. In addition, WHEDA works closely with our sister agency, the new Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to further a team approach to business expansion and job creations.

We developed a bold strategic plan to deploy all of our products to create or retain 12,500 Wisconsin jobs. Important components of the plan include expanding economic development, strengthening multifamily housing resources and capabilities, reestablishing home ownership lending programs and strengthening Authority finances and operations.

In August 2011, the WHEDA Board approved the 2012 Dividends for Wisconsin plan that provides a stronger focus on allocating general reserves to job creation and economic development. The plan evolved following a series of public hearings around the state where the message was loud and clear: utilize our reserves to stimulate economic growth and financially support WHEDA’s current housing programs.

As a result, WHEDA will devote $12 million from Dividends to job creation and economic development.
The second priority of the plan is affordable single family and multifamily housing. In all, over $14 million in general reserves will be available for all housing and economic development purposes. The third priority is housing for persons in crisis. WHEDA will provide $500,000 to local organizations serving our most vulnerable citizens. We believe that’s our housing investments are a significant contribution to aiding Wisconsin’s economic and community recovery.
Economic development, the ED in WHEDA has always been a key component of our mission, and 2011 was no exception.

Back in April, Governor Walker and I made stops in Oshkosh and Milwaukee where the Governor awarded $17.1 million in Affordable Housing Tax Credits to fund affordable housing project developments all across the state of Wisconsin. Those credits that WHEDA distributes will create approximately 1,200 construction jobs, will move forward 29 developments that will create 1,400 units of affordable rental housing. This year’s Affordable Housing Tax Credits will generate an estimated $250 million in economic activity for Wisconsin.

Our application to the US Department of the Treasury for a State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) allocation totaling $22.4 million was accepted. WHEDA expects to leverage the funds 10:1 for a total of $224 million. The funding is expected to create or retain 11,625 jobs. That is phenomenal news for our entire state.

When you look at all of WHEDA’s economic development tools including New Markets Tax Credits, small business programs, the Neighborhood Revitalization Guarantee program, the Contractor’s Loan Guarantee program, all of our agricultural programs and add it all up, WHEDA’s historic commitment to economic development in Wisconsin is significant. To date, since WHEDA’s inception, WHEDA has provided $828.7 million in economic development lending.
Despite our historic success, this isn’t the WHEDA of 10, 20 or 40 years ago. The affordable housing tools to which we were accustomed have been affected significantly by the “Great Recession”, the housing market crisis, regulatory reforms and the market’s continued aversion to credit risk.

To be clear: The affordable housing loan market was not the cause of the housing market crisis. WHEDA’s portfolio of loans is experiencing a default rate of about 3.2 percent, well below the Wisconsin average for prime conventional mortgages. Even so, because investors and guarantors have tightened qualifying criteria, we cannot offer the same loan terms and credit parameters as we have in the past.

We can, we must and we will work to turn matters around. WHEDA has set critical priorities to create more jobs, focus on strengthening the economy and develop new sources of mortgage capital. 

I’ve told audiences that I love my job because it’s like doing God’s work with a balance sheet. WHEDA and its partners will strive throughout 2012 to expand both employment and affordable housing options for Wisconsin families. WHEDA employees and I are committed to this goal.

Wyman Winston is executive director of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA).

As 2011 draws to a murky conclusion and 2012 rises from the horizon, BizTimes Media recently conducted its first Business Dashboard Survey.

About 300 readers at BizTimes.com completed the survey, which asked questions about the outlook for their companies in 2012.

Keeping in mind that most of the readers are decision-makers at their companies, we found some remarkable optimism among the respondents. The vast majority (65.5 percent) expect their company’s revenues to increase in 2012 from 2011, while only 26.3 percent predict flat revenues and 8.3 percent foresee revenue declines.

Similarly, 62.2 percent expect higher company profits in 2012, while only 28.8 percent predict flat profits and 9.0 percent foresee profit declines.

Simply put, those are some bullish responses amid so many economic and political uncertainties.
Another encouraging sign came in the answers to a question about hiring projections for 2012, as 43.5 percent expect to add staff and 51.1 percent expect to retain their current staffing levels. Only 5.4 percent expect to cut staff.

Other findings from the survey include:
- 26.3 percent will make significant investments in equipment in 2012.
- 12.0 percent will expand their office/plant space in 2012.
- 7.2 percent will move to a new location in 2012.
- 32.5 percent will provide an employee wellness program in 2012.
- 49.3 percent expect their employee health care benefit costs will increase by up to 10 percent, and 15.9 percent expect those costs to rise up to 20 percent in 2012. (Of those expecting higher health care benefit costs, 47.1 percent will pass along some of those costs to their employees.)
- 62.0 percent will increase their investments in branding, advertising and marketing in 2012.
- 56.3 percent have a company social media strategy.
- 9.5 percent have a customized company smart phone “app.”
- 62.1 percent will provide employee pay raises in 2012.
- 57.3 percent will increase the prices of their goods or services in 2012.
- 51.8 percent believe the state’s business climate will improve in 2012.

Some of the respondents added comments to their survey responses. Many respondents applauded Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and his reforms.

“Wisconsin is on track with Scott Walker’s leadership,” said Scott Jankowski of DK Sales Inc. in Sussex.

“If we deviate from the track Gov. Walker has us on, the business community will see Wisconsin as a place not to do business, and the unemployment rate will increase, as will taxes, making the perfect storm for Wisconsin to close its doors,” said Bill Forrester of Anchor Moving Systems in Menomonee Falls.

“I think businesses in Wisconsin will definitely improve in 2012 once the political dissonance stops, so businesses can pay more attention to business,” said Ron Sonntag of Ron Sonntag Public Relations Inc. in Milwaukee.
Some expressed disapproval of Walker’s reforms.

“Scott Walker and the GOP need to get out of the way of technological development,” said Keith Schmitz of KRPR Inc. in Shorewood

Jon Rauser of The Rauser Agency Inc. in Milwaukee perhaps took the most pragmatic approach, regardless of the fates of the Walker recall and the 2012 presidential election.

“2012 will be a transformative year. Waiting for Washington or Madison or the Supreme Court to ‘fix’ our problems is a fool's errand,” Rauser said. “We need to take matters into our own hands.”

Steve Jagler is executive editor of BizTimes Milwaukee.

Does Milwaukee County have a bigger role to play in economic development?

On its face, the recent announcement that Wauwatosa mayor Jill Didier is leaving office to become Milwaukee County's new Economic Development Coordinator is promising news on the economic development front.

As a former mayor, Didier obviously has strong connections to area business and municipal leaders, which should bolster the county's economic development activities.

In addition, the specific jurisdiction over which she presided is key. Wauwatosa is home to the Milwaukee County Grounds, which houses the county's Parks Department, Behavioral Health Division, and Juvenile Justice Center, as well as the Regional Medical Center. As the Forum has suggested in previous reports, determining the county's appropriate ownership of land and buildings on the County Grounds in light of the land's value, and within the context of its diminished workforce and fiscal challenges, should be a major priority for policymakers. The new Economic Development Coordinator's familiarity with those properties and County Grounds tenants could be quite helpful in that regard.

The Forum also is pleased to see that another research finding recently trumpeted in our Assembling the Parts report - that greater coordination is needed between metro Milwaukee's impressive array of economic development initiatives and players - has been cited in connection with Didier's appointment. The county's Economic Development Director recently cited that finding and said the new coordinator position - as well as Didier's appointment to it - reflect the county's intention of playing an important role in such coordination.

A word of caution may be in order, however, in light of another finding from Assembling the Parts. In examining the role that Milwaukee County traditionally has played in economic development, we note that its tools and resources are rather limited, which explains its limited activities in this area. Unlike other economic development players, for example, the county cannot grant tax incentives or credits to businesses; has little access to real estate or business financing; and can't create tax incremental districts. Consequently, its traditional role has centered primarily on managing and marketing its own real estate.

The coordination and "cheerleading" role envisioned by county leaders takes the county in a new and expanded direction and may prove to be very beneficial, particularly in light of Mayor Didier's background and connections. The only question is whether an entity that lacks economic development tools will command the respect needed to coordinate the region's players, and whether such an entity can truly make a difference in business attraction and retention efforts.

In light of the region's pressing economic development needs, it is difficult to fault county leaders for trying to carve out a larger role for themselves in the region's economic development landscape. As they do so, however, they may wish to keep in mind our Assembling the Parts warning that their efforts "not simply duplicate, but rather strategically complement, those conducted by other players."

Rob Henken is president of the Wisconsin Public Policy Forum.

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Inc. announced Wednesday it plans to purchase a 153,720-square-foot office building at 733 N. Van Buren St. in downtown Milwaukee. The company has entered into a contract to purchase the building, but the deal has not closed yet.

The sale price was not disclosed. The building has an assessed value of $4.5 million, according to city of Milwaukee records.

The building is located across the street from NML’s corporate headquarters.

This fall the company announced that it plans to tear down a 16-story, 451,964-square-foot office building on its downtown Milwaukee campus. The company said the building, which houses 1,100 employees, is safe but has significant ongoing maintenance needs.

NML has indicated that it will replace the building with a new building downtown, a new building at its Franklin campus or a combination of the two. The company has met with city of Milwaukee and Franklin officials about its plans.

Some downtown Milwaukee supporters are worried that the company will decide to build in Franklin to take advantage of lower costs there. The loss of about 1,100 Northwestern Mutual employees would be a blow to downtown.

If the company decides to build a new building downtown on the same site as the building that it plans to tear down, it would have to find a place to temporarily house those employees. Otherwise the company could build a new building in Franklin and move the employees there once it is complete.

The purchase of the 733 N. Van Buren Street building gives NML the flexibility to house the employees from the building that will be demolished and while replacing it with a new building, if that is what it decides to do. The company said it could house 1,000 employees in the Van Buren Street building and its other buildings downtown. The remaining 100 employees could be moved to the Franklin campus.

“For now this transaction simply provides the space we need so that we can get people situated and work can continue uninterrupted during the demolition process,” said Tim Gerend, vice president and leader of NML’s long range campus planning effort. “We are a long way from knowing where buildings and people will ultimately be located. We’re looking forward to creating modern, efficient and flexible space that can support our business and employees for decades to come. We are at the start of a very exciting process to create a 21st century work environment that will allow us to better serve our policyowners and financial representatives.”

Some downtown commercial real estate executives say that NML’s purchase of the 733 N. Van Buren Street building is a good sign that the company will decide to build its new building downtown.
“I don’t think they were ever planning on leaving downtown,” one commercial Realtor said. “I don’t think the Franklin thing is real.”

“I think they are further along (with plans for the new building) than they let on,” a construction industry executive said. “I think that piece of property (where NML’s downtown headquarters sits) is so amazing they would be stupid to not put something on it.”

However, Joel Lee, the owner of Van Buren Building Company, which is selling the 733 N. Van Buren St. building to Northwestern Mutual, said he doubts the company has made up its mind about where to build a new building, and says people shouldn’t read too much into the company’s plans to purchase the building.

“I don’t think anybody can surmise anything,” Lee said.

Northwestern Mutual has been a major tenant in the building for years, moving employees in and out when overflow space is needed, Lee said.

NML planned to make significant use of the building as it replaces the downtown building, so it made more sense to just sell the building to them, he said. Constant moving activity in the building would be detrimental to other tenants, Lee said.

After it builds its new building NML could still use the 733 N. Van Buren St. building to accommodate future growth, the Realtor said.

Lee said he has no idea what NML will decide to do but, “they are committed to the city of Milwaukee. They’ve told that to me a dozen times in meetings.”

Andrew Weiland is managing editor of BizTimes Milwaukee.

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region, urges you to support H.R. 10, the “Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act,” which would improve the quality of both Congressional oversight and agency actions, restore the historic relationship between Congress and the federal agencies, and ensure all branches of the federal government are accountable to the American people.

According to the Small Business Administration, the annual cost of federal regulations in the United States increased to more than $1.75 trillion in 2008. Hundreds of federal agencies write thousands of new rules every year.

The cost of these rules continues to rise. As President Obama acknowledged in Executive Order 13563, federal rules must be tailored so as to impose the least burden on society, consistent with obtaining regulatory objectives, while taking into account the cumulative cost of regulation.

H.R. 10 would address these concerns by returning Congress to its proper role relative to the agencies. Congress would reclaim control of the rule-making authority that is delegated to agencies. This bill would require both houses of Congress to affirmatively approve, and the president to sign, any new “major rule” – i.e., a rule with a projected impact to the economy of over $100 million – before it could become effective. Therefore, its enactment would begin to restore the balance between Congress and the administrative agencies and help ensure that all branches of the Federal government are accountable to the American people.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce strongly supports H.R. 10. The Chamber urges you to approve H.R. 10. The Chamber may consider including votes on, or in relation to, H.R. 10 in our annual How They Voted scorecard.

Sincerely,
R. Bruce Josten
Executive vice president of government affairs
U.S. Chamber of Commerce