8:00 May 17, 2005
Inc. Magazine gives Milwaukee high marks

Inc. Magazine's May 2005 issue includes a feature by Joel Kotkin entitled "The Best Places For Doing Business in America 2005." Kotkin begins his piece by stating:

"The economies of most big cities are idling. The real entrepreneurial hotbeds are now on the periphery -- where low costs make it possible to thrive in a tough global economy. The new economy didn't disappear. It changed addresses."

From the look of Inc. Magazine's study Milwaukee may very well be becoming one of those new addresses.

Among large cities, Milwaukee's rank as one of the top U.S. cities for doing business took a tremendous one-year jump to 22nd in 2005 from 56th in 2004. Milwaukee's 2005 rank becomes even more interesting when compared with other large Midwestern cities: Cincinnati #20; Minneapolis-St Paul #24; Kansas City #31; Indianapolis #34; Cleveland #36; Columbus #42; Chicago #45; and Detroit #60.

Add in large, medium and small size cities in the United States and Milwaukee is ranked 66th out of the 274 cities. This rank especially caught the attention of Kotkin in the analysis of the findings. In the text of his story, he talks about the struggles of some large cities but he specifically cites Milwaukee as a standout. Kotkin states:

"Of course, not all metropolitan economies are hurting. Greater Milwaukee jumped more than 100 places, to No. 66, this year -- one of several Wisconsin areas that are making the state an anomaly in the Midwest."

Sticking at looking at how Milwaukee fares with all 274 cities, under the heading "Most Balance Economy and Growth" Milwaukee was listed as #8 in the United States.

In a related story entitled "Everyone's a Knowledge Worker" Kotkin looks more closely at Green Bay but also connects it with the positive direction of Milwaukee and Wisconsin. Kotkin states:

For some time Wisconsin has had the premier entrepreneurial economy in the Midwest. In addition to Green Bay, the No. 1 midsize city on last year's list, the state's standouts include La Crosse (No. 15) and Madison (No. 38). Even Milwaukee, the big city in the state, is a respectable No. 66. What's behind this success? In large part it's the quality of Wisconsin's public education system. (Randy) Rose (CEO and president of Enzymatic Therapy in Green Bay) says the local workers he hires are well educated and well trained, at whatever level they are employed. Other Wisconsin business owners say the same. From the assembly line to the laboratory, Wisconsin employers seem particularly pleased with the level of skill and commitment shown by their workers.

Wisconsin also has avoided the problems associated with over concentration in one industry -- in particular the sensitivity to fluctuations in various marketplaces. This can be seen in the poor ranks for places tightly linked to particular industries -- such as Detroit (No. 213) and Flint, Mich. (No. 271), both of which rely on the auto, and Columbia, S.C. (No. 266), which depends on textiles.

In addition, Wisconsin excels in highly specialized firms in areas such as machine tools, measurement controls, and machinery for making paper products. Many of these smaller manufacturing companies have actually benefited from the explosive growth in China. Between 1999 and 2003, the state's exports to China rose 265%, more than twice the Midwest average and almost three times that for the rest of the country.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin has a low cost of living and exceptional recreational opportunities. And the word is getting out, meaning it's becoming easier to add imported talent. Rose recently hired top managers from Oakland and Chicago. "When I first got here in 2002," he says, "our equity partners said it would be hard to get people here because of the location. What we found was quite the opposite."

Joel Kotkin is a contributing editor to Inc. Magazine and an Irvine Senior Fellow with the New America Foundation and the author of The City: A Global History (Modern Library, 2005).

To read the entire feature and see the complete rankings refer to: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20050501/bestcities.html