Launch Event for The Initiative for a Competitive Milwaukee
     Milwaukee, WI
     September 15, 2003

In the Fall of 2001, the Milwaukee-based Helen Bader Foundation invited the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, a national not-for-profit organization founded by Michael E. Porter, to develop a new approach to improving the economic situation in Milwaukee’s inner city.  The ensuing project gathered scores of community leaders to work together in an effort to create an economic agenda for making Milwaukee a city of increased opportunity and prosperity.

Marking a major milestone of that effort, more than 350 private and public sector leaders from southeast Wisconsin and around the state gathered in downtown Milwaukee on September 15, 2003 to launch the Initiative for a Competitive Milwaukee.  Prof. Porter presented a  talk on the potential of Milwaukee’s inner city and its importance to the future of the region and the state.

Event materials:

Initiative for a Competitive Milwaukee: The Time for Action (pdf)
Slides from Prof. Porter's address at the launch event.

Initiative for a Competitive Milwaukee: A Call to Action (pdf)
This 60 page report outlines the Cluster Action Plans and Business Environment Strategies for the Initiative.

During the course of the project a survey of 370 manufacturers in the region was conducted.  It yielded many surprising and positive findings about the 179,000 manufacturing jobs in the region.

Manufacturing Survey Executive Summary (pdf)

Manufacturing Survey Report (pdf)

Appendix D (pdf)

Appendices B-J (pdf)

In the news:

Economic Revival Looks to the Inner City
     Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Editorial: Spark an Inner City Boom
     Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Governor Doyle Highlights Efforts to Grow Milwaukee's Economy
     Press Release - Office of the Governor of Wisconsin

Greater Milwaukee Committee Launches Program to Build Inner City Economy
     The Business Journal of Milwaukee