AUGUST 2012
ON THE INSIDE: • RAVE: AIRPORT DISTRICT READY FOR TAKE OFF • SENATE RACE OVERVIEW • TAKE OUR SENATE POLL
KOOYENGA ON ACT 10
NASA’S NEW MARKETING TACTIC
KEATING: BUILDING SMALL BUSINESS
We Agree.
In Business - For Business
Political Advocacy • Education • Networking www.ibaw.com / 262 844-0333
IBA has a new address. Please update your computer database. 960 Timber Pass • Brookfield, WI 53045 • Phone: 262-844-0333
2012 Business Presentation Series
IBA Wisconsin
August 17th
Mr. Tom Rave THE GATEWAY TO MILWAUKEE The Gateway To Milwaukee is the brand name for an area around General Mitchell International Airport. Mr. Rave has been the Executive Director since May, 2008. The Gateway’s role is to improve the vitality in the area around the Airport by actively impacting government direction, enhancing the area through security and beautification, marketing the area for economic development and creating mutually beneficial networking opportunities for businesses in The Gateway. To register click here. Friday, August 17th, 7:00 – 9:00am The Wisconsin Club, 900 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53233 IBA Member - $30 • Future Members - $40 - Register at www.ibaw.com
IBA CONTACTS
IBA MEDIA LINK
President.....................................................Steve Kohlmann Secretary......................................................John Weber
Governor Walker on
Treasurer.....................................................Casey Malek
Wisconsin’s Workforce.
Programing, State & National Issues...........Jeff Hoffman
Click here to listen.
Membership / Sponsorship........................Heather Baylor
evolution Steve Kohlmann, IBA President
You’re probably noticing a few
at what it takes to keep this facility running smoothly. This
changes at IBAW, and with good reason; Things are changing.
will be a members only event so if you need a reason to join IBA, there it is. Best of all, it’s free! We are also limited to a
group of 35 for security reasons.
Our membership is growing statewide, we’re adding more events,
If you have suggestions on other events please let us know.
the web site continues to update and we are publishing a monthly
We need to keep engaged with the membership and keep the lines of communication open so by all means let us know
magazine that reaches a statewide &
what’s on your mind. You’ll find contact info is on page 3.
nationwide audience featuring articles and information we hope you’ll find useful. You’re reading it right now.
Last item of business is that I’d like to talk about
While we’re still in the beta testing stage of the magazine
membership. IBAW is in a full court press to add members and grow the organization. We have some great energy
you’ll find improvements as time goes on. We are looking for
going and we can use that momentum to expand our
content contributors so if you have information the business community might find of value please drop me a note.
statewide reach. Our organization is well known in Madison and Washington so the larger we grow, the stronger the
IBA, like just about everything, is evolving. I noticed it a few
voice we have. There seems to be a thought by some that people who create jobs should be taxed more and saddled
years back when our speaker scheduled moved from plain
with more regulations. As you can imagine our membership
monthly meetings to The Business Presentation Series. The caliber of presenters greatly improved and you responded -
has a very strong and vocal opinion about that and we do get heard in Madison & Washington.
bigger crowds, more enthusiasm. If you were at our Big, BIG Networking event in December you know what I mean.
In addition to our political voice we really have some stellar
We also saw it at our Moving Wisconsin Business Forward
programming, events and other things happening so you
event in May an event which drew over 325 people including Governor Walker, all the TV stations and the press.
can feel confident in joining or referring IBAW. I’m sure you’ll agree we offer a very high quality product.
Lots of energy. Good stuff.
If you’re not a member there’s a membership application in
As with any improvement, it’s something that can’t be done
this magazine for you to fill out or pass on to an interested
overnight or without some type of turbulence so I’d ask for your patience and understanding while we’re moving
business associate.
forward and experimenting with new features.
IBA is evolving. Come join us!
If you have some suggestions on improvements or ideas that
would help IBAW’s brand and image, I would love to hear about it. Our recent BUSINESS BEHIND THE SCENES at
Caterpillar Heavy Mining came from a suggestion of a IBA member. By the way, our next tour will take place at the end
of October or early November (exact date still pending) and will be Mitchell International Airport. Many of you use this airport and we often take for granted and expect, a smooth arrival and departure. This tour will give you a unique look
LEGISLATIVE OPINION ACT 10 is truly education reform State Representative Dale Kooyenga
A year and a half after voting for the Budget Repair Bill, I find myself looking at the reform from a different perspective. Act 10 is commonly referred to as the Budget Repair Bill and for good reason; the success of the bill is defended largely on budgetary grounds. The result was the elimination of a $3.6 billion state budget deficit, savings of $1 billion at the local level and an estimated $100 million state budget surplus. These are large numbers, and substantial by any measure. But as time continues Wisconsin will look back upon Act 10, not only as a needed financial reform, but also as the most consequential educational reform bill the state has enacted in decades. In hindsight, the significant changes to education alone warrant changing the title of the Budget Repair Bill to the “Education Reform Bill” by future generations. " The different perspective on Act 10 came to me while reading the biography “Steve Jobs”, by Walter Isaacson.. In the fall of 2010, Steve Jobs, arguably the 21st century's greatest entrepreneur and visionary, met with President Obama regarding the American economy’s diminishing competitiveness. Jobs stated, “America’s education system is hopelessly antiquated and crippled by union work rules. Until the teacher’s unions are broken, there is almost no hope for education reform.” While Jobs was far from a Republican, (in fact he was a proud California liberal), he continued, “Teachers should be treated as professionals, not as industrial assembly-line workers. Principals should be able to hire and fire them based on how good they are.” " The reforms Jobs felt so passionately about are at the heart of Act 10. The status quo is changing in schools across Wisconsin and there are good reasons to believe the reforms will lead to better educated children who, in turn, will lead to greater future economic growth. Consider recent changes made in the Oconomowoc school district which will now pay high performing teachers more and introduce new project based learning technology in the classroom. Oconomowoc High School Principal Joseph Moylan said, "Learning will be much more student-centered. To survive in today's world, our students need to be much more
independent learners. With the new teaching methodologies and new technologies we now have at our fingertips, we can do it. This reallocation of all our resources will allow us to move the needle." Consider the Milwaukee Public Schools which spends the fourth most per student among the fifty largest cities in the country. James Causey, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist, recently made a compelling case for an extended Milwaukee Public School day and year. In 2013, when the current labor contract expires, Causey’s suggestions can actually be taken seriously as a result of Act 10. In my opinion, it is a viable option to address poor reading and math scores. The school board finally has the tools to enact reforms which may include having professionals teach year round to better address the significant educational challenges encountered by thousands of inner city students. " Education reform should not be a partisan issue. Even the most influential Democrats realize that only with Act 10 changes could the teachers union be confronted. Just ask Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a former Democratic congressman and Chief of Staff to President Obama, who is in a protracted impasse with the Chicago’s Teachers Union over his efforts to extend the school day and authorize additional charter schools. Organizations like Democrats for Education Reform share Emanuel’s frustration as they attempt to put in place educational reforms because they do not possess the Act 10 tools. Mayor Emanuel, former right hand man to the most powerful man in the world, faces stiff opposition from the Democratic Chicago Teachers Union because he does not have tools like those provided in Act 10. Steve Jobs, Scott Walker and Rahm Emanuel have more in common than you think. Far too often, political commentary puts education issues on one hand and economic issues on the other, as if the two issues are independent of each other. However, strong economic reform requires education reform. What will Act 10 be called in history books? Financial professionals will call it the Budget Repair Bill, MPS students that go on to graduate college will call it the “Education Reform Bill”, but when they put a down payment on their first home they may affectionately call it the “Economic Reform Bill”.
US Senate update IBA VP Programming / State & National Issues, Jeff Hoffman
In case you had checked out of politics after
outpolling front runner Tommy Thompson.
the June 5th Recall of the Governor we are
Tommy has cemented his status with the
just ramping up for what might be the most divisive and costly campaign season that the
traditional GOP backers and has been the only GOP candidate to consistently beat
United States has participated in. Wisconsin
Tammy Baldwin in polling data. Mark
will be a key battle ground State that could
Neumann has had the backing of the Club
determine control of the US Senate
for Growth and has recently turned his
US Senate Seat Outlook:
attention towards surging Eric Hovde and now the Thompson camp has followed suit viewing Hovde as a credible threat in an
The Republican Primary is set for Tuesday
anti-establishment environment. Hovde of
August 14th. This has been a very condensed
course is now attacking both Tommy &
campaign due to the recall and the firing squad on each other has begun. If you
Neumann. Follow?
haven’t heard, Eric Hovde’s personal
As the three joust for the crown of who is the
spending (anticipated to be approaching $4
“Most Conservative in the Race”, the other
million) has put his name at the tip of the
two denounce the third candidate as the
tongue of many Tea Party Conservatives looking for the next Ron Johnson. Hovde has
“Most Liberal Conservative in the Race”. While, arguably, the most conservative
closed the gap and is a close second or even
candidate in the race (who has talked the
continued -->
talk, and walked the walk) for the past 2 years has
His primary endorser in the Senate Race, The Club
flown under the radar screen. Despite a major
For Growth, was also the first camp to go negative
disadvantage in funding, Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, may be in a great spot leading up to the
in the Senate race. As Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment stated “Though shall not speak ill
primary if the 3 way negative ad battle between
of a fellow Republican”
Thompson/Hovde/Neumann continues to escalate
Schedules permitting, the IBA has reached out to
The IBA has not endorsed in the primary and
all four camps and whoever prevails in the Primary will be a special guest presenter for the
despite ads claiming that there are “liberals
IBA Breakfast Series in either September or
running as conservatives” in this race all four
October.
candidates are solid choices for the GOP. My Prediction (Not Endorsement):
The winner of the GOP primary should expect a very close race against Tammy Baldwin. Baldwin is very well financed and she is a great retail
The Firing Squad between Thomson/Hovde/
politician who works hard. She has consistently
Neumann will continue for the next couple of
been one of the most reliable liberal votes in the
weeks. This still will not be enough for Fitzgerald to win. In the end, I believe the collateral damage
US House of Representatives and the election for Wisconsin’s Junior Senator will really be a vision
the other 3 sustain will best play into the Tommy
of two different paths for America. In a State that
Camp because everyone knows who Tommy is.
is leaning towards President Obama, it may be
Tommy is the most electable candidate in the
difficult for the GOP to split the ticket and prevail
group in a State wide race. Expect the race to come down to Thompson & Hovde. If Hovde can
with a victory.
handle the barrage of questions regarding his past business dealings and residency in Washington, D.C. in a poised fashion there is reason to believe that he could be the Ron Johnson of 2012. If Hovde trips up down the stretch, he most likely would split the Anti-Thompson vote with Neumann and
Who will YOU vote for?
Tommy will breeze through. Despite Neumann’s solid conservative resume, there are many in the GOP still not happy with the campaign that he ran against Governor Walker.
Take the IBA Senate Poll! Click here.
building small business Raymond Keating, Small Business Entrepreneurial Council, Washington DC.
Politicians on a bipartisan basis
teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to
love to talk glowingly about
create this unbelievable American system that we have
entrepreneurs and the businesses they build and work to grow.
that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build
Unfortunately, that rhetoric too
that. Somebody else made that happen.”
often hides a fundamental misunderstanding towards the
Let’s break this down. Obviously, few entrepreneurs
process of entrepreneurship, or towards the economic risk takers
succeed without help from others. For example, they
themselves.
might have gotten a loan from an individual or a bank, or received capital from investors. And of course, no one succeeds in the marketplace without serving others,
Those misunderstandings or hostilities usually become
by creating or better serving various demands. But it is
evident via policymaking. That is, while saying nice
the entrepreneur who offers the new or improved good
things about business owners, policies are imposed that raise costs for businesses, and create disincentives for
or service upon which a loan or investment is made, and who finds customers.
entrepreneurship and investment. This certainly is not what the President is talking about Such misguided policymaking include higher taxes that
here.
diminish incentives and resources for starting up, investing in and expanding businesses; excessive regulation, which falls far more heavily on smaller
Then Mr. Obama talks of having a great teacher
businesses; high levels of government spending that
somewhere in your life. Well, maybe or maybe not on that one. And as for making a direct link between
drain resources from the private sector and threaten
having some great teacher along the way to starting up
higher taxes down the road; and a lack of leadership in
and building a business is a tough one to make. After
trying to lower the barriers to trade that reduce opportunity.
all, there are countless people who had a good teacher along the way, but had no inclination towards entrepreneurship.
If that agenda sounds familiar, it’s because this is what entrepreneurs, businesses, their employees and
The next lines reveal what the President is getting at:
investors have labored under for several years now. It’s
“Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American
the agenda of President Barack Obama.
system that we have that allowed you to thrive.
Interestingly, the President let his guard down
Somebody invested in roads and bridges.” Obama is talking about government.
regarding his philosophy, bias and assumptions when it comes to entrepreneurship in remarks delivered on July
Now, government certainly has a critical role to play in
13.
the free enterprise system, especially establishing the rule of law, enforcing and protecting property rights,
Mr. Obama declared, “If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great
running a fair system of justice, enforcing contracts, protecting against fraud, and so on.
But the President’s liberal philosophy rejects the idea that the individual and private, voluntary groups and associations come first (including private and parochial schools, by the way, with many very good teachers), with government in service to and supporting individuals and such institutions. Instead, in the leftist or Progressive view, government spurs and lays first claims on what is produced in our economy, since it’s government that “allowed you to thrive” and “invested in roads and bridges.” He misses the fundamental point that government derives its powers from the people. For good measure, the Soviet Union, for example, was excellent at spending money on building roads and bridges. But since it was a communist/socialist system, whereby government controlled all, they were roads and bridges to nowhere. And then came the kicker from Mr. Obama: “If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.” In rather stunning fashion, the President takes his views to their natural conclusion, revealing his true take on entrepreneurship and the economy. It is all about government being the spark and the engine. He does not understand that economic growth and wealth creation thrive most in the freest economies on Earth. Economic growth is driven by private risk taking, i.e., entrepreneurship and investment, not by resources being taken from the private sector and spent by politicians. In the economies that thrive, such as the United States, private entrepreneurs and businesses innovate, produce and compete, with consumers, in the end, deciding what works and what does not. Mr. Obama’s ignorance on the basics of how the economy works is not surprising. But there still is something unnerving and frightening to hear such economic obliviousness stated so plainly by the President of the United States. Make no mistake, if you own a business, you did make that happen. It’s you that take the incredible risks, and work to serve others. That is an endeavor worthy of praise and thanks, certainly not denigration or diminishment by the President. Raymond J. Keating is chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, Washington DC.
New Member Spotlight We are pleased to welcome our newest member, Lori J. Highby, President and Owner of Keystone Click, a Third Ward-based web developer. With nearly a dozen years of marketing, image building and web development experience, Lori opened her own web agency just four years ago, relocating to the historic Marshall building just last year. Besides the web development side of the business, Keystone Click also specializes in the world of Social Media Marketing (utilizing Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other vehicles) for small to upper medium size businesses nationwide. The range of business types covered includes not-for-profits, family owned businesses through multinationals. Also offered are the services of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which assures your customer will find your site when a conventional site search is undertaken. Primary service offerings include: ecommerce website development, content management systems, and social media marketing. When asked, why did you join IBAW, Highby responded, “With all the great groups available in Milwaukee, I was looking for an organization that would allow me to continue to be educated, while networking with a number of successful and inspiring business owners.” Welcome Lori!
marketing trends 7 MINUTES OF TERROR NASA Uses Hollywood StyleTrailer to Create Interest in Mars Rover Landing Americans are easily distracted these days. Cell phones, texting, Dancing with The Stars, shuttling the kids to practice, Netflix movies, social media and the list goes on and on. Let’s face it, Americans haven’t been real excited about America’s space program for quite some time. So NASA is taking a cue from Hollywood these days to generate interest in what it’s doing and using of all things....a movie trailer....to make the public aware of the August landing of it’s latest Mars landing and rover explorer, Curiosity. Not everyone at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a planetary scientist or aerospace engineer. John Beck, produced the trailer “7 Minutes of Terror” a video that is one of the most-watched videos on YouTube.
Click here to watch video
The fast-paced video is set to dramatic music and features some great computer generated special effects. One of the featured stars is engineer Adam Steltzner, who explains it takes seven short minutes for the rover to travel from the outer atmosphere of Mars to the Martian surface and 14 minutes for a signal from the rover to reach Earth from Mars. Steltzner looks into the camera and says soberly, “when we first get word that we’ve touched the top of the atmosphere, the vehicle has been alive, or dead, on the surface for at least seven minutes.”: Scene fade to black. NASA, has a reputation for a dry communication strategy that generally focuses on facts and figures rather than story lines, people and well, drama. But NASA is hoping to change all that with other compelling videos since the late 1990s. NASA has done footage for Nova’s hour documentary show such as "Mars Dead or Alive?” and "Welcome to Mars," , the IMAX documentary “Roving Mars,” and National Geographic’s documentary “Five Years on Mars”. For “7 Minutes of Terror” Beck commented on how absurd and risky the mission really is. The rover landing stage uses parachutes and rockets in addition to a radical deployment just before touchdown called The Sky Crane Maneuver. “I really wanted people to get the sense that this mission is really crazy. It’s almost comical how crazy it is. And I really wanted to make the engineers seem vulnerable.” Beck is surprised by the amount of YouTube video hits 7 Minutes has received and that the video has a great ‘Mission: Impossible’ feel to it which he believes is key to its popularity. Get your popcorn. Turn up the volume. Click the link above to view. Hold on - we’re going to Mars.
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Welcome new IBAW members! Sales Smith Mary Caye Smith The Highland’s Sportsmen’s Club TJ Sommer
Join Wisconsin’s premier business association! Contact IBAW by clicking here.
Keystone Click Lori Highby
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PAYING BY CHECK ? Make checks payable to IBA ʹ and mail to: IBA 960 Timber Pass Brookfield, WI 53045 WANT TO PAY ONLINE? You can also pay by Mastercard / Visa at the IBA Membership page. www.ibaw.com ________________________________________________________________________ The Independent Business Association of Wisconsin is a not-for-profit entity filed with the IRS under 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code. As a not-for-profit association, the members of The Independent Business Association, Inc. are allowed to deduct a percentage of dues that are not used for lobbying purposes. For the year 2012 based on the total income of the association and the lobbying expenses as reported on the Wisconsin State Ethics Board Lobbying reports for 2011 the percent of dues that were used for lobbing purposes is 15%. Therefore, the percent of dues that would be tax deductible is 85%.