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e-FOOTNOTES
4th QuarterDecember 2011
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In This Issue
Top Research Findings
Shared Services Work
Assembling the Parts Report
Economic Development Viewpoint
Latest People Speak
Technology Transfer Report
President's Message
Rob
It was at my first meeting with the Forum's search committee in the fall of 2007 that I learned the Forum had a 100th anniversary approaching in 2013, and that I would be responsible for planning the celebration should I be selected as the next president. 

 

While I was awed by that potential responsibility, I must admit it was hard to get too excited about it at the time.  After all, 2013 was years away, as distant as the time when my kids would go off to college and the Packers might again contend for the Super Bowl. 

 

Read on... 

Upcoming Reports... 

January - Snapshot of Year One of Wisconsin's YoungStar Program

Jan./Feb. - Analysis of Milwaukee Voucher Schools
New Members

City of Oak Creek

Community Advocates, Inc.

George Franco

The Richard & Ethel Herzfeld Foundation

ManpowerGroup

David R. Snyder

Whitnall School District

Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation

Quick Links...
Forum's top five research findings of 2011

Last December, the Forum initiated a new annual tradition of identifying our top five research findings of the previous year. The 2010 list included findings on Milwaukee's skilled workforce, Milwaukee Area Technical College spending habits, and the imbalanced state of Milwaukee County's adult mental health system. Here is this year's list in chronological order:

 

 Read on...

Public schools article
Forum's work on shared services going strong 

The second quarter edition of e-Footnotes described the Forum's budding efforts to work with Milwaukee County municipalities on shared services and consolidation activities. Readers were informed of a new grant from the Helen Bader Foundation to support those efforts, and of plans to "step them up" in the months ahead. Since that time, Forum staff have been engaged in a variety of shared services activities and research, including the following:

Read on...

2012 Milwaukee County Budget Preview
Forum report spurs discussion about comprehensive economic development planning

In a highly publicized report released in mid-November that examines the activities of Milwaukee's major economic development players, the Forum commends City and private sector leaders for adding "strength and focus" to the community's economic development efforts, while suggesting that a strategic economic development plan is needed to "bring additional precision, cohesion and accountability" to ongoing efforts.

 

Milwaukee's revenue toolbox
Economic development Viewpoint draws large crowd, prompts calls for action
Dec 2011 Viewpoint
More than 200 people turned out for a Forum Viewpoint luncheon on December 12 at the Italian Conference Center to hear a panel of private and public sector economic development leaders discuss Milwaukee's economic development successes and challenges. The panel was moderated by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Page Editor David Haynes.

 

The focus of the discussion was the Forum's latest report on economic development, "Assembling the Parts," and its finding that the city could benefit from a strategic economic development plan and vision.
 
Region's property tax levy growth
Latest People Speak reveals citizens concerned about health care costs and reform
The latest People Speak survey, conducted by the Forum in partnership with UWM's Center for Urban Initiatives and Research and The Business Journal Serving Greater Milwaukee, finds that residents of southeast Wisconsin are concerned about health care costs in general, as well as the costs of the new health care reform law. The poll, conducted in early November, surveyed 436 adult residents of Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha Counties. 

 

Latest People Speak poll
Maximizing the local economic benefits of academic research

Tech Transfer Report Cover

The Forum explored the local economic impacts of technology transfer in a new report presented at an October 24 Viewpoint Luncheon at the Crowne Plaza in Wauwatosa.

 

"Southeast Wisconsin is home to several academic research institutions, each of which goes about technology transfer independently, for the most part," says Forum Research Director Anneliese Dickman.  "Our report asks whether greater collaboration among the region's research institutions is needed to maximize the local economic impacts of technology transfer."

  

Social Media article
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The Forum is on both Facebook and Twitter.

 

We encourage you to "like" our Facebook page and "follow us" on Twitter @PPFMilwaukee.

Awards article
Forum in the News 
The Forum was frequently featured in different media outlets in the 4th quarter of 2011. 
Forum on the streets
Forum on the Streets 
Forum staff were busy disseminating research and sharing their policy insights with government and civic entities in the 4th quarter of 2011. 
Thank you
Thanks for checking out the latest e-Footnotes and please don't hesitate to let us know what you think.  Thanks also for your continued interest and support of the Public Policy Forum.
Sincerely,

Jeff Schmidt
Researcher/IT Director
Public Policy Forum