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Wisconsin:
Still Going Strong

Wisconsin has tinkered with its economic-development programs in recent years, but the state has seen no need to reinvent them wholesale as some states have. That's because the state's economy is booming almost as much as its neighbors'.

"We seem to be going gangbusters," says Bill Zillmer, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Dept. of Commerce. "And it's been like that almost non-stop since 1988." The state has not matched the pace of job growth that some of its neighbors have, but its balanced economy has spared it from the downturns some others have experienced.

With an annual GSP of $147.3 billion, Wisconsin ranks 19th nationally and behind its Great Lakes neighbors. But that doesn't seem to matter when the state is capturing its share of new industry and seeing expansions, too.

Less than a year ago, DaimlerChrysler announced a $624 million expansion of its Kenosha engine plant, a big project for any state. Metavante Corp., which provides financial and data processing services for banks, is adding a 160-sq.-ft. (15-sq.-m.) center in Milwaukee. That project will add 500 new jobs to the 1,000 the company already employs in Milwaukee.

Johnson Controls recently completed a $16.9 million technology center in downtown Milwaukee adjacent to corporate headquarters.

"Our economy is experiencing a very comfortable expansion," Zillmer says. "We're seeing some reinvestments that you don't see in a recession." SS

--Frederick Burger is a freelance writer and editor who lives in Anniston, Ala.