Madison, WI

From Chris:

Had the opportunity to speak with a number of communities in southeast Iowa, southwest Wisconsin and the Madison area earlier this week….maybe 160 folks or so.  Talking about entrepreneurial solutions for the economy in September of 2008 may be one of the most unique experiences I have had in my life.  The bankruptcy news was swirling on the TV’s, the paper’s were running End-of-Time-Font stories, people talking about where to invest when even the money market accounts were failing, community people were feeling the pain of manufacturing companies shutting down in small towns all over the Midwest…..my oh my , what times we live in.
 
I am of the opinion that the old world is dying and the new world is aborning.  We are looking at a raging forest fire but really we should be thinking about what the sprouting little plants will be like when the conflagration is over.
 
A side note:
 
I had been in several parts of Wisconsin before but never in Madison.  The town’s reputation for beauty and progressiveness had proceeded itself but I was so surprised to see that it sat on isthmus…the capital, the downtown and a good part of the University of Wisconsin, all on a narrow strip of land.  In all directions, the street views look out over the very large lakes, or they terminate at the state capitol which sits high on a hill and has the same design as the US capitol.  The U of Wisc campus is monstrous—nearly 50,000 students, very urban in nature.
 
It reminded me a lot of Portland:  lots of students everywhere, street life, restaurants, bars, big leafy trees and water views.  I had the sense that THRIVE, Rafael Carbonell’s regional organization, may take the lead in organizing an entrepreneurial support effort.  In fact, it might be useful if the Portland and Madison people were talking to each other.
 
If you look at the Edward Lowe Foundation website called “YourEconomy.com” you will see that Madison does very well in the critical second stage company category: 16% of companies in the 10-99 employee category vs. 11% for the US average.
 

 
 
That critical second stage company category is a predictor of future economic health and good news for Madison.