Economic development is a team sport. And it’s never been a particularly partisan issue.  
That’s why we are so concerned about the legislative proposal to strip the governor’s power to 
appoint the head of the lead economic development agency, WEDC. There are many agencies 
not run by a gubernatorial appointee, but WEDC shouldn’t be one of them.  
 
If the head of WEDC isn’t a trusted, even central, part of the governor’s cabinet, the whole 
economic development enterprise will suffer. And so will Wisconsin’s economy. The best job 
creation strategies come from bringing people with different outlooks and ideas together to 
drive Wisconsin forward.  
 
A successful strategy for state economic development will rely on the governor’s cabinet for 
many things. An agency might need to expedite a permit review for an important manufacturer 
or launch a joint training initiative with an agency like Workforce Development to bring a new 
employer into our state. Sometimes the governor needs to get on the phone to close a deal or 
gather the cabinet agencies and direct them to tackle an issue together. Having the head of 
WEDC working collaboratively with state agencies from day one as a member of the cabinet is 
the best way to make this happen. 
 
Economic development simply won’t work if the leader of WEDC isn’t part of the governor’s 
team. Governor Walker knows this. His first instinct in creating WEDC was to make the 
governor the chair of WEDC’s board. It made sense. Economic development works best when 
it’s organized so that the governor can marshal the entire team in service of creating more 
family-supporting jobs.  
 
Whether the governor and legislature should make changes to the structure of WEDC is an 
issue they should settle. But the legislature shouldn’t strip the governor’s power to appoint the 
quarterback of the economic development team. And if they do, Governor Walker should veto 
it. 
 
Bill McCoshen, Secretary of Commerce 1994-1998 
Cory Nettles, Secretary of Commerce 2003-2005 
Mary Burke, Secretary of Commerce 2005-2007 
Jack L. Fischer, AIA, Secretary of Commerce 2007-2008 
Dick Leinenkugel, Secretary of Commerce 2008-2010 
Aaron Olver, Secretary of Commerce 2010-2011 
Paul Jadin, CEO of WEDC 2011-2012 
Reed Hall, CEO of WEDC 2012-2015