I had the opportunity to participate in the Business Legislative Listening Session hosted by UW Washington County with EDWC. Although protesters lined the driveway and police were present throughout the facility, several of our State Representatives were on hand to hear from local business leaders.
Terry Wendorff, President of SnoWay International in Hartford, did a great job in keeping the sometimes escalating debate on track, focused on the intent of the meeting and, in typical Terry fashion, humorously entertaining. Westbury Bank sponsored the event.
Just a few encouraging quotes I jotted down from our representatives:
- "we are waiting for the phone to ring"
- "we're from the government and we're here to help" (sounds like an oxymoron)
- we are planning on "first and foremost growing internal WI businesses"
- growing "interdependance on global economy and events"
Legislative Panel:
- Secretary Paul Jadin
- Senator Glenn Grothman
- Senator Rich Zipperer
- Representative Dan Knodl
- Representative Dan LeMahieu
- Representative Pat Strachota
Contact information for Secretary Jadin (stressed that he wants to hear from businesses):
Paul Jadin - WI Secretary of Commerce
http://www.commerce.state.wi.us/com/COM-JadinBio.html
Phone: 608-266-7088
Fax: 608-266-3447
Email: Paul.Jadin@wisconsin.gov
Other State Representative contact information can be found here:
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/w3asp/contact/legislatorslist.aspx?house=assembly
Issues addressed by the audience (rankings can be found in the presentation link attached below):
- Tort Reform
- Right to work state
- Need to promote economic development tools available throughout the state
- Help with access to capital, specifically Dodd-Frank
- Environmental issues - multiple agencies / regulations
- Consistency between state and federal regulations
- Need for a broader definition of companies that qualify for incentives
- Need to focus on small business
- Minimum markup
- Cost transparency in health care
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If interested in viewing the entire discussion, you have been invited to attend a Mediasite presentation.
Presentation Details:
Title: Business Legislative Listening Session
Date: Friday, March 11, 2011
Duration: 1:24:10
Link: http://goo.gl/NK6uJ
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