A consortium of 15 public and private partners, that includes two Northeast Wisconsin businesses, has been formed to advance an economic development strategy aimed at bolstering Wisconsin’s leadership in personalized medicine and biohealth technology.
The consortium aims to gather stakeholders around a strategy to leverage Wisconsin’s momentum in this growing technology space, to develop and facilitate shared initiatives, and to pursue designation by the federal Economic Development Administration as a Regional Tech Hub. The designation by EDA of Wisconsin as a Regional Tech Hub could enable the state to access $50 million to $75 million in federal funds under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.
Consortium members include the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, the University of Wisconsin System Administration, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, GE HealthCare, Rockwell Automation, Exact Sciences Corporation, BioForward Wisconsin, Employ Milwaukee, Accuray, Plexus, WRTP Big Step, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Madison Area Technical College, the Madison Regional Economic Partnership (MadREP), and Milwaukee7.
The consortium believes that the RTH designation and support from EDA would enable stakeholders to scale up operations to a global level by providing shared data and systems to drive innovation; aligning and scaling the supply chain and manufacturing sector, including providing robust support for rural and minority supplier participation; improving capital access to start and grow businesses; increasing lab space and implementing strategies that expand housing policies and transportation; establishing coordinated and industry-aligned workforce strategies with attention to rural and underrepresented access; and ensuring a laser focus on equity strategies across the Hub.
The RTH designation will improve employers’ abilities to forecast jobs, careers, targeted credentials and skills; allow the implementation of skill-based hiring and career advancement; and enable the development of an employerdriven regional workforce strategy to grow and train Wisconsin’s biohealth workforce according to current and future projected needs.
The creation of the consortium and the expanded resources associated with the RTH designation are expected to provide new opportunities to improve care for patients. The consortium anticipates giving greater attention to traditionally underserved patient communities by establishing a Patient Advisory Group whose members will offer feedback to researchers and industry as they consider which products and services to develop and where to invest in research. This critical feedback is often cost-prohibitive for companies and researchers to access. The group will help ensure that real patient needs, especially those of vulnerable populations, guide the Hub’s direction.
Additionally, consortium members will be better able to coordinate technology development in ways that will enhance opportunities to advance new clinical care pathways, such as new ways to treat specific cancers. The Hub will sponsor a personalized medicine technology and product development strategy to develop these new pathways and improve patient care.
“Wisconsin has always been at the center of research, innovation, education, and manufacturing that changes the world, transforms people’s lives, and enhances their economic and personal well-being,” said Missy Hughes, secretary and CEO of WEDC. “Wisconsin is now at the forefront of one of the most dramatic advances we’re seeing in medical care – personalized medicine. We owe it to the people of our state – and the world – to continue to build on that momentum.”
