A new report commissioned by economic development organizations representing Wisconsin’s three largest regions highlights a pressing need: statewide collaboration to grow Wisconsin’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
New North, Inc. — the economic development organization serving the 18-county Northeast Wisconsin region — led the charge on “The Changing Landscape of Entrepreneurship in Wisconsin,” which was released in March.
“We felt that as our founders are getting more sophisticated with the types of support they need in our ever-changing technology world, we needed to evaluate how we could better support them within our extended partners,” says Barb LaMue, New North, Inc. president and CEO.
To do this, New North secured a grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. to fund the report in collaboration with Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP) and Milwaukee 7 (M7). Together, the three regions represent roughly 74% of Wisconsin’s population.
The resulting report includes insights from dozens of statewide stakeholders and identifies strategies to build a more inclusive, equitable and high-performing startup ecosystem that supports every entrepreneur in Wisconsin.
Lead author Scott Resnic, co-founder of StartingBlock Madison entrepreneurial hub, says the Wisconsin startup scene was very different when he was starting out in 2005.
“The word startup was fairly taboo. It was a very niche form of economic development,” he says. “Fast forward to today and it seems like all we talk about is the importance of startups, new innovation, new technologies and how they become disruptive forces for our economy.”
It’s not that Wisconsin is lacking in startup support. The report found that more than 100 entrepreneur support organizations exist across Wisconsin; however, resources are largely fragmented by region, leaving many founders disconnected from vital resources and opportunities.
Resnic emphasizes that Wisconsin entrepreneurs today are more interconnected and compete on national or international stages — a dynamic traditional EDO structures struggle to support.
That’s why unifying resources is more critical than ever, but it starts with a mindset shift.
“Understanding how we think of ourselves as a state versus just a region will be critical moving forward,” Resnic says. “The population of the state of Wisconsin simply puts us at a competitive disadvantage. It’s when you are starting to move more of our resources together as a state, you start to get closer to what could potentially occur.”
This mindset shift — from regional to statewide thinking — is at the heart of the report’s recommendations.
Co-author Pete Dulcamara, founder of the consultancy Pete Dulcamara & Associates, focused on identifying the unique challenges and opportunities facing women, minority and veteran entrepreneurs.
“Wisconsin doesn’t need to become Silicon Valley — it needs to become the best version of itself,” he says. “If we want to unlock the full entrepreneurial potential of Wisconsin, we must intentionally lower the barriers for women, minorities and veterans and build an ecosystem that values inclusive innovation as an engine for statewide growth.”
The report contains four key resolutions that LaMue says will help Wisconsin “use our convening power and corporate connections to help support the entrepreneurial community and create collaboration among all nine regions of the state.”
These resolutions include:
- Build a regional brand: Unify messaging and storytelling around innovation successes to attract investors and talent statewide.
- Foster a culture of innovation: Increase access to knowledge-sharing forums and promote expert voices from academia and industry.
- Develop collaborative initiatives: Support cross-region exchanges, mentorship networks and joint startup programs across M7, MadREP and New North.
- Bridge geographic and cultural divides: Establish rural resource hubs, promote inclusive networks and expand virtual collaboration to support women, minorities and veterans.
The ability to capitalize on existing strengths, like the collaborative platforms of TitletownTech, gener8tor and the Wisconsin Technology Council, will help bridge regional gaps and foster statewide innovation.
Dulcamara believes that a more inclusive and interconnected approach will accelerate job creation, investment and innovation throughout Wisconsin.
“If you want to change a culture, we have to change the stories we tell and the heroes and heroines we hold up,” Dulcamara says. “We have an opportunity to help every Wisconsinite thrive by creating a more equitable ecosystem in the state.”
