{"id":9560,"date":"2022-10-12T17:21:55","date_gmt":"2022-10-12T17:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/weda.org\/?p=9560"},"modified":"2022-10-12T18:02:22","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T18:02:22","slug":"guest-column-its-about-people-wedc-secretary-and-ceo-missy-hughes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/weda.org\/guest-column-its-about-people-wedc-secretary-and-ceo-missy-hughes\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Column: It’s About People – WEDC Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guest Column: <\/strong><\/span>It’s About People<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n

WEDC Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

\"\"In late February of this year, Deputy Secretary Sam Rikkers and I had the privilege of visiting Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.\u00a0 We had envisioned traveling there to visit some companies who have a presence in Wisconsin and to learn more about the state of manufacturing and business in those countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, what we envisioned became something very different when three days before we landed, Russia invaded Ukraine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As we sat down to our first dinner with officials from Wisconsin\u2019s sister state of Hessen, it became clear that our purpose for being there was much greater than we thought.\u00a0 For 45 years, we have had this relationship with Hessen, a state in Germany that is remarkably like our state \u2013 agriculture and manufacturing form the foundation of their economy, some tourism, lots of beer.\u00a0 But the relationship is akin to old family ties \u2013 there are cultural ties and even actual family ties: I was able to meet my mother\u2019s first cousins in Weisbaden while we were there.<\/span><\/p>\n

So during that first dinner with the Minister of Digitalization, Kristina Sinemus, welcomed us with tears in her eyes and fear in her voice, we began to understand.\u00a0 And the next morning in meeting with other Hessen business and state leaders, they articulated the fears \u2013 energy security, food security, refugees, and of course, violence that they were now grappling with.\u00a0 As we walked one morning we saw the frantic loading of a truck with diapers and clothes and food.\u00a0 We knew where that truck was headed.<\/span><\/p>\n

It seemed initially that our visit would be overwhelmed with news and conversation about the war.\u00a0 But what actually happened was quite different. The discussions were about relationships and how we could strengthen our connections \u2013 because it is through the long-term relationships of businesses doing business with each other, or students studying abroad and living with families, or seminars and conferences, that we would be able to stay as allies, supporting each other and having each other\u2019s backs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, it was precisely the time for economic development to be in the room \u2013 because it\u2019s economic development that creates relationships and networks and that acknowledges the importance of community and prosperity.\u00a0 Economic development doesn\u2019t just try to fix the past, but it thinks about the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the last few years, our collective experiences have hammered this point home. Across the changes wrought by pandemic, war, climate change, economic and racial inequities, and political polarization, one lesson has been consistent: economic development is not about numbers and rankings, or about inputs and outputs, or profit and loss margins, or buildings and capital investments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0It\u2019s about people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether we\u2019re in business or government, education or community development, we do what we do because of and for the people in our communities. We think of our families, our neighbors, our friends, our colleagues, our co-workers and our bosses. We think about the store owners, the folks who serve us coffee in the morning, the people who build our houses and fix our cars, who manufacture our cutting-edge technologies and care for our children.<\/span><\/p>\n

Putting people first has transformed our work and our relationships at WEDC. We continue to invest in businesses \u2013 large and small \u2013 and in communities, but our focus is on how these investments are benefiting people.<\/span><\/p>\n

It means that when we talk about creating jobs, we need to ask: How much do these jobs pay? \u00a0Are these family-sustaining jobs? Are these investments creating opportunities for people who may not have had these kinds of chances before? And what kind of resources do communities need to attract and support workers?<\/span><\/p>\n

Many of our recent initiatives have focused on building relationships and supporting our Wisconsin communities. We recognize at WEDC that, as a statewide organization, we don\u2019t have all the answers. Problems are often best recognized and solved by people at the local level, with the state providing the resources to make those much-needed changes happen. That\u2019s the guiding principle behind both our Main Street Bounceback Grants and the Workforce Innovation Grants \u2013 that we at the state level act as the catalyst for local leaders to innovate and advocate for the people in their communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

As we work together on some of the big challenges ahead of us — such as workforce, sustainability, and competitiveness \u2013 we must keep our focus on people. Our experience with the Workforce Innovation Grants, for example, has demonstrated that meeting the needs of workers outside the workplace \u2013 for things like housing, training and education, and transportation \u2013 is often just as critical as finding the right people for a job.<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, our drive to keep our businesses competitive requires not just a knowledge of the latest technological trends but a deeper understanding of the human element \u2013 how these changes will transform our relationships with workers and their work.<\/span><\/p>\n

As partners in economic development, let\u2019s continue to keep the people and the communities we serve top of mind. Together, Wisconsin can approach the future \u2013 through relationships, and communication, through the open exchange of ideas with all communities.\u00a0 We can know that by hearing all voices and bringing everyone to the table we can<\/u> have each other\u2019s backs, we can succeed and be prosperous.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Missy Hughes is secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, the state\u2019s leading economic development organization. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest Column: It’s About People WEDC Secretary and CEO Missy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weda.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9560"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weda.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weda.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weda.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weda.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9560"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weda.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9561,"href":"https:\/\/weda.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9560\/revisions\/9561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weda.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weda.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weda.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}