NEW Manufacturing Insights, a joint podcast of the Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance (NEWMA) and Insight on Manufacturing (IOM) magazine sponsored by Wintrust Commercial Banking at Town Bank, N.A., unpacks the March Insight on Manufacturing cover story on its latest episode, available now wherever you listen to podcasts.
This week’s guests include Lisa Johnson, CEO of BioForward Wisconsin, and Insight editor Amelia Compton Wolff, who penned the March IOM cover story about Johnson’s and BioForward’s successful effort to get the state of Wisconsin designated by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration as a Biohealth Tech Hub. It was one of just 31 hubs recognized nationally out of 172 applications, and Johnson recently completed a phase 2 application with the hopes of receiving even more project funding.
Johnson says that, despite the preponderance of biohealth science and technology companies in Madison and Milwaukee, it was important to organize the hub as a statewide collaboration. BioForward Wisconsin is a member-driven, 501(c)6 advocacy organization, “out there fighting for this industry,” Johnson said, but the industry thrives here due to the strong manufacturing supply chain, particularly in Northeast Wisconsin.
“I think some other tech hubs have made a mistake [in that they’re] very city-oriented, they might be a little regional oriented,” Johnson said. “I think we’ve really promoted that this is state[wide]. Our true strength, and where we stand out in the nation, is because of our manufacturing. There’s not many states that have what we have.”
Learn more from Johnson and Compton-Wolff by listening to the full episode now.
New episodes of NEW Manufacturing Insights are available every Thursday at www.spreaker.com/show/new-manufacturing-insights, as well as through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, Amazon and more.
