WEDC has reshaped the former commerce department’s positions of regional development managers into regional account managers with an emphasis on local engagement.

Jadin recalled during his time as Green Bay mayor he had little communication with the regional commerce representative, “I probably ran into him more at church than I did my office.”

WEDC has added regional account managers in the “New North” and “M-7″ area of Milwaukee.

The agency head talked of expanding markets globally. The state has offices in Canada, Mexico, Brazil and China but Jadin said they are looking into similar expansions in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Russia. 

Jadin said this spring the state will take trade missions to Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore; to India; and to Brazil, Chile and Colombia.

“I know you don’t agree that. But because you don’t agree with that our fear is that you are just going to repeat these same mistake again, but by orders of magnitude that we can’t even comprehend right now,” said Ryan in hearing Thursday.

The central bank wants to keep interest rates very low until late 2014 in an effort to spur the economy.  Ryan said this could lead to fueling asset bubbles and destabilizing prices.

But Bernanke cautioned that Congress should not cut spending or raise taxes too quickly, warning the result could undermine economic recovery. The Fed Chairman admitted the recovery so far has been “frustratingly slow,” but believes 2012 will have stronger growth than last year.

While he admits it’s not going to happen all at once, he says “we’ve laid the foundation, laid the groundwork, for us to head in the right direction.”

Walker continued to promote his Wisconsin Working agenda as a way to boost job growth. The agenda includes efforts like doubling the number of job fairs this year and hiring more state worker to help those on jobless benefits look for work.

Walker also says reforms he put in place in his first year, such as limiting collective bargaining rights for public union employees, have provided employers with the certainty they need to add jobs. He says the state having its finances in order should convince business owners that it’s safe to take the risk and invest in Wisconsin.

Democrats argue the governor’s policies are not working, citing federal labor statistics that show Wisconsin has lost thousands of jobs since Walker’s budget took effect last summer.

Walker spoke as committees in the Assembly and Senate passed a bill that creates a voluntary occupational training program for residents on jobless benefits. The program, which is modeled after similar training programs in Georgia and New Hampshire, provides 20 to 24 hours a week of unpaid on-the-job training for up to six weeks.

AUDIO: Matt Lehman reports (:28)

Research director Dale Knapp says the report used tax returns to determine how many people were coming to and leaving the state. He says in the mid ’90s, Wisconsin was a popular place to relocate. But trend has been changing in recent years and in 2010, about 10,000 more people left than came to the Badger State.

Many are retirees looking for warmer weather and friendlier tax climates. The report says 45,000 Wisconsinites – which equals the entire population of Fond du Lac – moved to Florida and Arizona from 2006 to 2010.

“As the baby boom continues to head toward retirement we expect that to continue,” says Knapp. He adds improving the state’s economy is the only way to reverse the trend.

Rick Schuh-WHBY contributed to this report

AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (1:15) 

But Greendale Republican Jeff Stone says mine revenues are no different from how income and sales taxes are handled. “Those go into a pot, and then they come to Madison and we figure out how to use that general purpose revenue, and that’s what will happen here,” says Stone. “But I think the state will have some questions about the impacts of the mine, and I’m sure that as we move into the future we’ll be addressing those impacts, and we’ll be having some discussions as to how to allocate those dollars.”

The legislation, which rewrites and streamlines the process for granting mine permits in Wisconsin, is expected to pave the way for a massive open-pit iron ore mine proposed by Gogebic Taconite in the Penokee Range area of Iron County. The amended version of the bill (AB 426) passed the Assembly jobs committee on a 9-to-5 vote Tuesday, and now heads to the full Assembly for a vote on Thursday.

AUDIO: Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (:45)

President Obama on Thursday announced the rejection of the construction application, citing the State Department’s characterization of “the rushed and arbitrary deadline insisted on by Congressional Republicans.” Obama says that prevented a full assessment of the pipeline’s impact on health and safety and the environment.

Sensenbrenner says the decision will have a negative impact on U.S.-Canadian relations. “I don’t believe in the situation that we’re in today, both economically and foreign policy wise, that we ought to really hurt our friends and benefit our enemies. All this will do is force America to import more oil from the OPEC nations. None of the OPEC nations like us or share our values.”

TransCanada Corporation, the firm which had applied for the permit to build the pipeline, says it remains fully committed to the project.”We will re-apply for a Presidential Permit and expect a new application would be processed in an expedited manner to allow for an in-service date of late 2014,” said a statement.

Incentives include more than $3 million in tax incremental financing, $2.4 million in low-interest loans from the city and $500,000 dollars in loans from Douglas County, which also transferred title to land for the Kestrel plant. In addition, the state has provided incentives which include $90 million in New Market Tax Credits. The payoff for Superior should be huge: the builder of advanced general aviation planes is expected to bring 600 jobs by 2016, many of them highly skilled.

It’s the largest number of new jobs created in Superior since World War II, and the largest number brought to Wisconsin since Governor Scott Walker took office with a promise to create 200-thousand new jobs. “There will be other opportunities for businesses to grow here,” says Hagen. “It will ripple though the community very nicely.”

AUDIO: Parr, Griffin, Miller (1:22)

The second was to give all employees the option of remaining in the union. Parr says Manitowoc rejected their offer of giving current employees seven days after strike ratification to decide, and new hires the same seven days after a 90 day probationary period. Don Griffin, also with local 10, was asked if he was surprised by the vote. “I was kind of surprised because it’s hard to hang on financially, for eight weeks, let alone, who knows, go another four weeks.”

Gary Miller of the Local 516 committee reacts to Manitowoc Crane hiring approximately 40 replacement workers. “Look at the money they’re spending. How many thousands of dollars by bringing in these contract scabs,” he says. “Take the union busting language off. The money that they’re spending could have paid our portion of the insurance for the next four years.”

Representatives from Manitowoc Crane responded in a news release that they are disappointed with the vote. They are asking that their employees continue to talk rather than walk the picket lines, and return to their jobs. Both sides say they want to resolve this strike and would meet with a federal mediator if requested.

Brian Norton, WOMT

Duanna Bremmer is the director the the salvation army in Polk and St. Croix Counties. “We did reach our goal in Polk County. Our goal was $80,000 and we raised $80,677. We also reached our goal in St. Croix County. The goal there was $100,000 and they reached $106,000.”

To reach the goal the red kettle campaign started earlier this year and ended later this year. They started deer hunting weekend in both counties. “The reason we start in that weekend is we do need those extra two weeks. In Polk County we also rang the week after Christmas and the reason being demand for our services has increased so much. We’ve seen about a 300 percent increase over the last two years.”

All of the money raised in Polk and St. Croix Counties stays in those counties.

Kurt Mayer, WXCE

“Our customers are demanding lower cost solutions and it is essential we respond quickly to support their changing environments,” president and CEO Mark Ludwig said in a statement.

The company notified employees of the move on Tuesday.

“Joerns clearly has simply put profit ahead of the lives of these great employees,” Stevens Point Mayor Andrew Halverson said in a statement. Halverson said the city and state had offered millions in incentives and tax credits to keep Joerns in Point.

It is not clear how many employees would be affected though Halverson estimated the number between 140 and 200 employees.

The company says it will keep several employees in Point to provide customer and technical support and to design and develop products.

Matt Lehman-WSAU