MATC Smart Investment, Gateways To Madison, RTA Plans Emerge – By Ken Harwood

MATC Smart Investment Could Be Hard Sell With Voters

Madison Area – 8/19/2010 …here is a laudable proposal by Madison Area Technical College to spend up to $150 million in the next couple of years on building projects to accommodate students in programs that lead to family-supporting jobs in IT, software engineering, health care, public safety and many other fields. There are now long waiting lists for admission to many of these programs… the toxic tea party terrain of 2010 where any public institution asking voters to pay even a little more in taxes for a greater long-term good $20 to $40 per year on an average home for the next 20 years seems chancy.

Ken Notes:This project will need a great public relations campaign to move it forward but if MATC can listen and be flexible I think the can get it done. I hope they can get it done.

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www.madison.com

Gateways To Madison: Officials Vow To Spruce Up City Entryways

Madison’s most attractive gateway, John Nolen Drive, is targeted for new upgrades, but city officials say that doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten promises to fix up its three less attractive siblings.

More progress must be made on the East Washington Avenue, South Park Street and University Avenue corridors, so they don’t undermine the central city’s most enduring claim to fame — its beauty, officials say.

“All of these gateways are crucial to the future economic development of the city and the region,” said Ald. Tim Bruer, the City Council’s senior member, whose district includes…

Ken Notes:Wouldn’t it be nice if each of these gateways had an efficient cost effective mass transit corridor to bring people into the city.

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www.madison.com

As RTA Plans Emerge, More Municipalities Put Transit Tax Referendums On Ballot

As the Dane County Regional Transit Authority begins to flesh out the details of its transit plan, more municipalities are putting a transit sales tax advisory referendum on their local fall ballot.

The RTA Board is unlikely to hold a referendum in November, so several municipalities are considering asking voters whether they support a half-cent sales tax for commuter rail. Sun Prairie, Cottage Grove, Waunakee and several towns have already voted to put the question on the fall ballot and others will be voting on the proposal in coming weeks.

The RTA Board has committed to holding a referendum before imposing a sales tax to fund its operations, so communities that vote this fall will likely vote again on the issue in a future election.

Tom Wilson, an RTA Board member and administrator of the town of Westport, which voted Monday to hold the referendum, said he doesn’t see a problem with local communities weighing in on commuter rail now.

“If all the communities want to go ahead and have a referendum on commuter rail, they’re certainly entitled to do that,” Wilson said. “The more information we can get, the better.”
But RTA Board Chairman Dick Wagner cautioned that interpreting the results of those votes could be complicated.

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www.madison.com

KEN HARWOOD
The Future Wisconsin Project and Wisconsin Development News
P.O. Box 930234 Verona, WI 53593-0234
Phone (608) 334-2174

Wisconsin Innovation Kitchen, Obama’s Spill Speech, Developers Avoid Millions In Taxes – By Ken Harwood

Wisconsin Innovation Kitchen Will Be Boon To Region

MINERAL POINT — The main mission of the Hodan Center is to assist adults with disabilities. The addition of the Wisconsin Innovation Kitchen will lend a hand to the rest of the community, too.

“This is a big shiny spaceship that has landed in rural Wisconsin,” said Rick Terrien, executive director of the Iowa County Economic Development Corp. “This is a major economic opportunity for the region. It’s not the solution, but it’s a solution. We can take care of lots of farm and family businesses around here.”

There’s enough of an economic development connection that Terrien’s office will be based in the 10,000-square-foot facility…

Ken Notes: …and do not forget that Green and Lafayette counties have Greenco Industries another great facility. In fact there are several facilities in the state. These are fantastic resources for entrepreneurial businesses in Wisconsin. You design and market a product and these facilities can handle the manufacture and fulfillment from A to Z. Lets do a Wisconsin Development News — Cheese BBQ sauce… Wait “big shiny spaceship” I think Rick has been celebrating with some of the herbs Innovation Kitchen packages…

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www.madison.com

After Listening To Obama’s Spill Speech,
Enviro-Businessman Unveils His Own Plan

After reading my article last month headlined “Allow me to share with you an excellent mass-transit plan,” where I presented mass-transportation options for Madison using alternative fuel vehicles, a friend called and said, “Ken I never knew you were such an environmentalist.”

To be honest, I never knew I was an environmentalist. I try to use this column to advocate for profitable business ventures, fiscal responsibility in government spending, partnerships between the public and private sectors, and sound long-range planning. These are not the usual foundations for tree-hugging, whale-saving, car-banning environmentalism. I am an enviro-businessman. I believe in environmental causes when they make economic sense or benefit my grandchildren…

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www.kenharwood.com

Developers Avoid Millions In Taxes
Through Farmer Relief Law

Wisconsin – 7/8/2010 Real estate developers are avoiding millions of dollars in property taxes using a Wisconsin law aimed at providing tax relief for farmers, auditors say. In just 14 municipalities, developers and other land owners saved $4.7 million in additional property taxes in 2009, according to a report issued Thursday by the Legislative Audit Bureau. The tax liability of other property owners in those areas would have been lowered by the same amount…

Ken Notes: Do not blame the developers, they buy and hold land for future development. The holding costs are huge and many developers fail, others build the businesses and offices that will employee our kids. If we want to revisit these laws we need to do it with a comprehensive plan in place. As an elected official I was fully aware of how developers managed their holdings in fact I often worked with developers to acquire land the community wanted to develop in the future. If government and developers worked together we could plan for the development we want.

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host.madison.com/wsj

KEN HARWOOD
The Future Wisconsin Project and Wisconsin Development News
P.O. Box 930234 Verona, WI 53593-0234
Phone (608) 334-2174

Sun Prairie Development, City Committee Delays & Denies Liquor License, Walmart Goes Green – By Ken Harwood

Sun Prairie Development: Prairie Lakes’ Ship will Hoist Two Anchors

The Gospel according to the economic development Gods says that an anchor store is vital to drive traffic to any shopping mall or commercial area, but Sun Prairie’s new Prairie Lakes commercial development will have two such traffic generators, and perhaps a third depending on how you count.

One anchor is already there; another fell into the developers’ laps, and the third would represent a regional draw that isn’t even part of the 100-acre development.

Prairie Lakes already features a 134,000-square-foot Target store, and sometime in the summer of 2011 it could be the home of a new, 16-screen Marcus movie theater complex…

Ken Notes:Neil Stechschulte may well be one of the best economic leaders in the state. His commitments to planning, the future, alternative energy, and working with developers is one reason SP is on everyone’s radar screen. I am a little jealous.

www.wisconsindevelopment.com
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ibmadison.com

City committee delays and denies liquor license requests from five Walgreens stores

Madison – 6/17/2010 Walgreens representatives may be wishing they had never changed their policy on selling alcohol in their drug stores after spending more than three hours in front of the city’s Alcohol License Review Committee Wednesday night only to end up with two “nos” and three “wait and sees” from the committee. The ubiquitous drug store chain was at one time the nation’s top alcohol sales…

Ken Notes:There may be more than a little politics at play here, but that said Walgreens aggressively fought to lower their tax burdens and has cost the state millions in revenue and established a guideline for others wanting to do the same. Since the license is a privilege not a right I hope that they are forced to comply with the toughest of standards.

www.wisconsindevelopment.com
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host.madison.com/ct

How Walmart is going green

National – 6/16/2010 You never heard of the world’s greatest – and most unlikely – environmentalist, Mike Duke. While Sen. Joe Lieberman and Sen. John Kerry ponder what to do about carbon in our atmosphere, Duke has done more to take more carbon out of more lives than any person on the planet. And in the next five years, he will do even more.

Ken Notes:The good news in this story is that the changes are for the economic good of the company and were not mandated. While I hate the fact that WalMart is leading the charge, when going green means more green we will be green.

www.wisconsindevelopment.com
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KEN HARWOOD
The Future Wisconsin Project and Wisconsin Development News P.O. Box 930234 Verona, WI 53593-0234
Phone (608) 334-2174