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BY JOE POTENTE
jpotente@kenoshanews.com
When Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton thinks of Wisconsin’s economic future, companies like Kenosha-based Bradshaw Medical Inc. come to mind. A designer and manufacturer of arthroscopic surgical instruments , Bradshaw was founded just two years ago and already employs about 40 people. The company has received U.S. patents on multiple precision tool designs and, last year, was given an economic impact award from the Kenosha Area Chamber of Commerce and the Kenosha Area Business Alliance.
“Bradshaw is a brilliant example of one of our mainstay economic sectors — manufacturing — as it retools,” Lawton said during a Monday appearance at the Kenosha Area chamber offices. The lieutenant governor came to town to promote the latest incarnation of Gov. Jim Doyle’s “Grow Wisconsin” initiative, which Lawton said includes proposed provisions that could benefit burgeoning companies like Bradshaw Medical.
Lawton spoke to a group of about 25 area political and business leaders about the governor’s proposed “Innovate Wisconsin” tax credits that would apply to companies that grow their research and development activities by more than 25 percent above their previous three-year average. Through his “Accelerate Wisconsin” proposal, Lawton said Doyle proposes to add $2.5 million to a grant program for start-up companies and small businesses while increasing tax credits available to “angel investors” and venture capital investors who provide funds to emerging businesses. Lawton said Doyle hopes to build on past successes in this arena by doubling the amount of grant money available, to $100 million. Doing so could leverage at least $400 million in private investment in the state, the lieutenant governor said.
Also among the initiatives Doyle touted in his State of the State address last week, Lawton said, is a plan to begin a $150 million grant and loan program to promote development of renewable energies, a consumer-driven health insurance pool for small business employees and a commitment to ratify an interstate deal that protects Great Lakes water resources. “We want a very strong compact,” Lawton said, drawing applause from the Kenosha chamber audience.
Lawton acknowledged that these items are being proposed against the backdrop of a gloomy economic outlook — a Legislative Fiscal Bureau last week predicted the state could experience budget shortfalls of $300 million to $400 million by next year. But the lieutenant governor said the state will not be able to work its way out of economically difficult times without making certain investments.
Lawton deferred to Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser, D-Kenosha, on the question of whether the politically split Legislature will be able to move beyond last year’s budget stalemate to make Doyle’s proposals become law. Kreuser said he and Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, RWest Salem, are meeting with Doyle today to discuss how these items can pass through the Assembly in the coming months. “I look forward to them passing fairly rapidly when we come back (to session) at the end of February, the beginning of March,” Kreuser said.
Publication: Kenosha News;
Date: Jan 29, 2008;
Section: Local;
Page: 4
