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…
Courtesy of
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…
Courtesy of
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.
Courtesy of
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



