For the third year in a row, Wisconsin is dead last in a national ranking of business startups. Wisconsin has placed 50th among the 50 states in startup activity as measured by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, one of the country’s leading entrepreneurship advocacy and research organizations.
“Everyone was hoping that we would have a different result, but I think we all knew that we haven’t done anything to change the trajectory,” said Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce president Zach Brandon. “If we keep doing the same thing we’re going to get the same thing.”
Still, Brandon remains bullish on Madison and the state as a whole. “At the end of the day we all want the same thing, which is to create prosperity and new jobs. To be able to do that with new companies that are driving the economy is a net gain for the state.”
Brandon and the Madison Chamber are calling for creation of a statewide Blue Ribbon commission to study ways to grow entrepreneurship in Wisconsin.