For more than 50 years, "Milwaukee the city" has had trouble coexisting with "Milwaukee the metro area."
Disagreements over annexations, sewerage treatment, transportation, business competition, and water use have sparked some of the major battles.
But at its fifth quarterly meeting Wednesday, a group dedicated to promoting the region as one entity under the "Milwaukee" brand took several stands with one, united voice.
The "Milwaukee Seven" -- a group of business, political, and community leaders from the counties of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington, Walworth, Racine, and Kenosha -- called on the state to help meet growing transportation needs.
The "M7" group issued a statement Wednesday asking that the state include in its upcoming budgets the nearly $1 billion needed for rebuilding Interstate 94, from the Plainfield Curve to the state line. It also will formally ask state legislators to support funding for the extension of the Metra rail service, north from Kenosha to Milwaukee, and for the reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange.
No timelines for such funding such expensive projects were included in the resolution, passed by the 35 members of the M7 council. But the group hopes to secure funds by stating its opposition to recent transfers from the state's Transportation Fund by Gov. Jim Doyle to help cover education costs. The M7 group also said it would oppose such future transfers asked that the transportation funds be segregated.
The group also voted to ask the state to provide $2.5 million for the regional Biomedical Technology Alliance, which would be a cooperative effort among several regional colleges, and to allow for $6 million in new Angel Investment Tax Credits.
Wisconsin Energy Corp.'s Gale E. Klappa, who will become the chair of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce this spring, said of the recommendations, "I think it's clear that all of this has to be fit into the broader priorities of the state. But our purpose in highlighting these initiatives was to put a stake in the ground that these initiatives are the ones that will be most beneficial to economic transformation and growth of the region."
Pat O'Brien, Milwaukee Seven director, said those are concepts that have regional impact and regional support. He said the region needs to start thinking of all of southeastern Wisconsin as "Milwaukee" in order to become a more economically viable area.
"What if you live in Racine and go on vacation and someone asks you, "Where are you from?' You probably say, 'Milwaukee,' " O'Brien said. "If you go on vacation to Florida or Europe and someone asks that, you probably say, 'near Chicago."
He said the point of collaboration is that a larger area branded as "Milwaukee" has a better chance to make a more unique mark. The idea of acting as a seven-county region is supposed to give the region more clout as it competes against areas like Minneapolis and Indianapolis, he said.
O'Brien pointed out that the M7 group also started its "Choose Milwaukee" web site this week to help target business that might be considering relocating to anywhere in southeastern Wisconsin. It describes the region's educational institutions, availability of real estate, cultural assets, and quality of its workforce, among other attributes.
As a way of trying to put past disagreements behind them, the group also agreed to a code of ethics.
"It is a very public way to announce ethics to govern the behavior of economic development entities, politicians, and businesses," O'Brien said. "It is a very proactive way of saying that we are not competing against each other" in the region.
One tenet of the code says that "members shall commit to selling the (M7) region" during recruitment efforts, rather than advancing any of the individual counties or communities over another.
The code adds, "Members will not solicit intra-region company relocations. At no time shall any economic development organization member of Milwaukee 7 present derogatory information about another community or county in Wisconsin. 'Selling against' another community or county in the Milwaukee 7 region or any Wisconsin community or region is prohibited."
Calling the signing of the code by the seven county executives and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett an "historic" moment, Klappa added, "The reality we are all beginning to understand is, that to compete in a global economy, we have to act as a region. If region is going to prosper, we have to get beyond parochial concerns."
Considering the rivalries, competition, and even biter divisiveness of the past half century in southeastern Wisconsin, accomplishing that goal would be nearly as significant for regional development and harmony as attracting new businesses.
Disagreements over annexations, sewerage treatment, transportation, business competition, and water use have sparked some of the major battles.
But at its fifth quarterly meeting Wednesday, a group dedicated to promoting the region as one entity under the "Milwaukee" brand took several stands with one, united voice.
The "Milwaukee Seven" -- a group of business, political, and community leaders from the counties of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington, Walworth, Racine, and Kenosha -- called on the state to help meet growing transportation needs.
The "M7" group issued a statement Wednesday asking that the state include in its upcoming budgets the nearly $1 billion needed for rebuilding Interstate 94, from the Plainfield Curve to the state line. It also will formally ask state legislators to support funding for the extension of the Metra rail service, north from Kenosha to Milwaukee, and for the reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange.
No timelines for such funding such expensive projects were included in the resolution, passed by the 35 members of the M7 council. But the group hopes to secure funds by stating its opposition to recent transfers from the state's Transportation Fund by Gov. Jim Doyle to help cover education costs. The M7 group also said it would oppose such future transfers asked that the transportation funds be segregated.
The group also voted to ask the state to provide $2.5 million for the regional Biomedical Technology Alliance, which would be a cooperative effort among several regional colleges, and to allow for $6 million in new Angel Investment Tax Credits.
Wisconsin Energy Corp.'s Gale E. Klappa, who will become the chair of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce this spring, said of the recommendations, "I think it's clear that all of this has to be fit into the broader priorities of the state. But our purpose in highlighting these initiatives was to put a stake in the ground that these initiatives are the ones that will be most beneficial to economic transformation and growth of the region."
Pat O'Brien, Milwaukee Seven director, said those are concepts that have regional impact and regional support. He said the region needs to start thinking of all of southeastern Wisconsin as "Milwaukee" in order to become a more economically viable area.
"What if you live in Racine and go on vacation and someone asks you, "Where are you from?' You probably say, 'Milwaukee,' " O'Brien said. "If you go on vacation to Florida or Europe and someone asks that, you probably say, 'near Chicago."
He said the point of collaboration is that a larger area branded as "Milwaukee" has a better chance to make a more unique mark. The idea of acting as a seven-county region is supposed to give the region more clout as it competes against areas like Minneapolis and Indianapolis, he said.
O'Brien pointed out that the M7 group also started its "Choose Milwaukee" web site this week to help target business that might be considering relocating to anywhere in southeastern Wisconsin. It describes the region's educational institutions, availability of real estate, cultural assets, and quality of its workforce, among other attributes.
As a way of trying to put past disagreements behind them, the group also agreed to a code of ethics.
"It is a very public way to announce ethics to govern the behavior of economic development entities, politicians, and businesses," O'Brien said. "It is a very proactive way of saying that we are not competing against each other" in the region.
One tenet of the code says that "members shall commit to selling the (M7) region" during recruitment efforts, rather than advancing any of the individual counties or communities over another.
The code adds, "Members will not solicit intra-region company relocations. At no time shall any economic development organization member of Milwaukee 7 present derogatory information about another community or county in Wisconsin. 'Selling against' another community or county in the Milwaukee 7 region or any Wisconsin community or region is prohibited."
Calling the signing of the code by the seven county executives and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett an "historic" moment, Klappa added, "The reality we are all beginning to understand is, that to compete in a global economy, we have to act as a region. If region is going to prosper, we have to get beyond parochial concerns."
Considering the rivalries, competition, and even biter divisiveness of the past half century in southeastern Wisconsin, accomplishing that goal would be nearly as significant for regional development and harmony as attracting new businesses.
