Buzzwords Are Not Public Policy or We've Heard Enough From So-Called Business Experts

More cliched economic jargon from error-prone businessmen. 

Biden Needs Some Business Experts

The article moans, "The new administration does not have a lot of chops when it comes to job creation. That’s largely in the domain of the private sector. Biden and his crew are loaded with experience in managing the government, but are extremely shallow in knowing what to do to help the private sector become vibrant again. Remember, all tax revenues come directly or indirectly from dynamism in the private sector. Most companies deserve to be revered for providing jobs and tax revenues, but that is not the mindset of the progressives in the Democratic Party. Their proclivity is regulation. Common sense regulation is a necessity in any economy, but more important is turning entrepreneurs loose to reinvent the economy. They are the job creators, not the government."

There is so much wrong here, it's hard to know where to begin. There are so many regurgitated conservative falsehoods in this right-wing word salad, it really does make the mind spin. For someone who can occasionally make reasonable sounding arguments, John Torinus, more often, just parrots typical Republican talking-points. 

Biden has been working for the citizens his entire adult life. He's plenty familiar with job creation. Republicans are the party that has left this country in recession after recession over the past few decades. And, it has been the Democrats who enacted targeted policies to help pull the country out. Biden was Vice President during the Obama Administration, in case Mr. Torinus has forgotten that fact. 

What did Obama and Biden do? There has not been a consistent job market expansion on record, dating back to 1939, that lasted longer than the expansion during their administration. Job growth was faster than population growth—a key measure of a healthy job market expansion. The typical weekly pay of U.S. workers has been increasing since early 2013 and re The ACA made it possible for more than 20 million individuals to afford health insurance and decreased the share of Americans without health insurance to an all-time low.ached its highest level on record, dating back to 1979, at the end of 2016. They inherited a deficit that claimed 9.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in fiscal year 2009. By FY 2016, the deficit had fallen to less than one-third of that, at 3.2 percent of GDP.

Seems like they know something about job creation, reinventing the economy and helping the private sector be vibrant.

And this "dynamism in the private sector" and "turning entrepreneurs loose" are, as Joe Biden would say, a bunch of malarkey. This country has been cutting taxes and deregulating the past 40 years. If the private sector entrepreneurs are so damn dynamic, why does the economy keep falling back into recession when we allow Republicans control of the government?

It's long overdue for the private sector knows it all, government needs to get out of the way-gang to go away. The public sector employs over 20 millions people. The public sector accounts for nearly half of the entire economy. This idea, pushed by Republicans for decades, that government is inept and wasteful is wrong. If anything, the private sector is the wasteful and inefficient actor. Not to mention the fact that the private sector is also selfish and greedy.

Private retirement account fees are drastically higher than public pension fees or Social Security fees. Much of the medical advancements we see are due to university research and the National Institutes of Health. Study after study has shown that public infrastrucutre projects are cheaper when done by unionized public workers, rather than being bid out to private corporations.

 

So, please, Republicans, conservatives, dynamic private sector know-it-alls, please step aside and let the adults in the Democratic party save the country from your destructive and misguided ramblings once again.

Ad Nauseam Entrepreneurialism

John Torinus has an interesting article, UW System Needs New Kind of Leader, which raises pertinent issues and offers some reasonable options.

The only area I have strong disagreement with is his recommendation to "Emphasize entrepreneurship on each campus. Entrepreneurs re-invent economies, which Wisconsin will need in the rebound from our deepening recession. Some campuses are well down this path."

Entrepreneurship, entrepreneurialism, etc. has been pushed ad nauseam over the past few decades. This serious-sounding talking-point has little supporting evidence. This idea that everyone is a business mogul and everyone should be investing and/or starting a new business or venture, is a big reason this country is so ill-informed, ill-prepared, has crumbling infrastructure, and has seen the environment continually degraded.

The UWM Center for Economic Development performed an exhaustive study debunking the myth of the entrepreneurial university. The Hechinger Report echoed similar findings in Think universities are making lots of money from inventions? Think again. Derek Lowe found similar results for his article Innovation, at Universities and in Industry. Two others whom have studied the issue extensively, Matthew Wisnioski and Lee Vinsel, have noted identical results, most recently in The Campus Innovation Myth.

The "entrepreneurialism" drum is one that we should have stopped pounding long ago.

Weekend Reading

How the Carried Interest Loophole Makes the Super-Rich Super-Richer
Lending to Poor People Didn't Cause the Financial Crisis
Republicans Waged A 3-Decade War On Government. They Got Trump.
Government Holds The Promise of Faster Growth
The Myth of the Millennial Entrepreneur
How the War on Terror Has Militarized the Police
Our Nine-Point Guide To Spotting A Dodgy Statistic

If Only Slogans and Buzzwords Were Needed For Economic Growth

David Haynes, editorial page editor of the Journal Sentinel, opines a lengthy list of platitudes as a prescription for economic growth in the area. He holds up the Research Triangle in North Carolina as a best practices example or guiding post.

The Research Triangle area of North Carolina — with Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill at its vertices — has long turned good ideas into business enterprises. World class universities attract an enviable supply of talent. and a range of companies — from startups to Cisco, BASF and GlaxoSmithKline — keep that talent anchored. The Triangle has one of the highest levels of educational attainment in the nation.

The Milwaukee region is not the Research Triangle and shouldn't try to be. Southeastern Wisconsin has to call on its own strengths, starting with an economy forged by industry leaders such as Northwestern Mutual, Rockwell Automation, GE Healthcare and Fiserv as well as a growing research presence at its academic institutions.

Marc Levine addressed this leap of faith in The False Promise of the Entrepreneurial University:

In short, university research parks are anything but sure-fire investments in urban or regional economic prosperity. Success is relatively uncommon, as Wallsten’s impact study makes clear. “Game-changing” success – the kind that remakes a regional economy—is even more rare, the product of unique historical factors, good luck, and timing. For example, the North Carolina Research Triangle Park’s oft-cited (and oft-emulated) success, “was built around its first-mover status in the field of science parks,” generous state and federal funding, and a uniquely patient multi-decade commitment by political leadership – and even with all those difficult-to-replicate factors in its favor, it took more than 30 years to see evidence of the cluster development attributed to the park (Weddle, 2007, 7). Universities that cavalierly pursue and oversell URPs as “transformational” economic development investments risk creating white elephants and misallocating millions of dollars that could be better invested bolstering the core missions of their institutions.

Now, Haynes does say we shouldn't try to be the Research Triangle, but that we do need to foster more entrepreneurial activity, and then he uses numerous Research Triangle examples to illustrate the path we should emulate.

The region's poor entrepreneurial performance matters: Research has shown that new businesses account for nearly all net new job creation, according to the Kauffman Foundation, and they juice local economies by boosting competition and innovation. If a region isn't creating enough new companies, it will likely have sluggish growth.

A vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem that supports people who want to take the leap from idea to business formation is one essential element of a strong ecosystem for business development. So is the support of business leadership in the community. These are deep strengths in the Research Triangle.

Research has also shown that new businesses account for most job loss.

The claim that most net new jobs came from new firms conceals the fact that existing firms added tens of millions of jobs in this 25-year period. Of course existing firms also lost tens of millions of jobs. We can say that the net job creation for existing firms was zero, but if we did not have an environment that was conducive for the job adders to grow (how many jobs did Microsoft, Apple, and Intel create after their first 5 years of existence?), then existing firms would have lost tens of millions more jobs.

And, of course, Haynes had to mention venture capital, another one of the economic-clubs pundits continually beat us with whenever they're trying to sell these unsupported ideas.

Josh Lerner, of Harvard, has found the number of exceptional venture capitalists is very small. Harold Bradley, of the Kaufmann Foundation, believes venture capitalists have plenty of money, but allocate it very inefficiently, and therefore should not be receiving additional public dollars with the hope of boosting a local economy. Bradley and Carl Schramm, in an article for Business Week, write that the current focus on fees has promoted start-up flipping rather than nurturing.

In 2013, The Legislature overwhelmingly voted Tuesday to provide $25 million in taxpayer money to start-up companies. And we all know the booming job creation the Scott Walker regime has presided over since then.

Haynes closes with, "That's thinking like an entrepreneur. And it's the kind of thinking we could use more of in Milwaukee."

Let's start with the fact that a lot of economic momentum for a city or region is impacted by state and federal policies. Scott Walker killing the train, which would have better connected businesses and citizens in the region, was definitely not thinking like an entrepreneur. That infrastructure investment would have improved efficiencies, bolstered existing businesses, encouraged start-ups and increased the attractiveness of the region as a place to work and live. It would have been an investment of more than a billion dollars into the economy. I think we would have seen quite a bit of venture capital, start-ups, entrepreneurial activity and the like with an injection of a billion dollars.

So, maybe when our leaders stop cutting off our nose to spite our face we can have a real discussion about what's best for job growth.

For Further Reading:
Another False Idol: Venture Capital
Starting Up More Trouble
Faulty Excuses
A Steaming Pile of Boldness
Venturing Aimlessly
Venturing Wisconsin's Money
Selling Entrepreneurialism
Starting-Up More Trouble 

Midweek Reading

Oops: The Texas Miracle That Isn't
Subsidizing The Corporate 1 Percent
The Baloney Detection Kit
The Shocking Numbers Behind Corporate Welfare
Formula For Measuring Poverty Dates To 1963
You Can't Lure Entrepreneurs With Tax Cuts
Fortune 500 Companies Receive $63 Billion In Subsidies
The Rent Seeker, Posing As Visionary
The Costs Of Bad 401(K) Plans
Obamacare Critics Still Just Tell One Side Of The Jobs Story
Whole Foods: America's Temple Of Pseudoscience
Here's How Much Your State Is Losing If It Didn't Expand Medicare
What's Good For American Corporations Isn't Necessarily Good For Americans

Government: The Mother Of (Much) Invention

Government - Not Business - Has Been The Source Of Breakthrough Innovation

The New York Times obituary for Douglas C. Englebart, identified as the “Computer Visionary Who Invented the Mouse,” is fascinating reading, in part because Englebart, an Oregon farm boy, was in many ways the father of modern networked computing. Beginning in the early 1960s, he put together a team of engineers and computer scientists, funded by the federal government, that developed a prototype for most of the computer tools we all take for granted today...

Mariana Mazzucato, a professor of economics at the University of Sussex, has been making the point very effectively in lectures and a new book, The Entrepreneurial State, that the real innovation engine in the global economy is not business, nor the market, but the government. A recent story about Mazzucato in Forbes cites her view that long-term, patient capital–provided by government–is the absolute prerequisite for breakthrough innovation.

“Her case study for myth-debunking is the iPhone, that icon of American corporate innovation. Each of its core technologies–capacitive sensors, solid-state memory, the click wheel, GPS, internet, cellular communications, Siri, microchips, touchscreen—came from research efforts and funding support of the U.S. government and military."

Corporate Profits Up, Their Taxes Have Fallen

Ayn Rand USA: In 20 Years Corporate Profits Are Up 4X and Their Taxes Have Fallen by 50% -- Meanwhile the Workers' Payroll Tax Has Doubled

In the past twenty years, corporate profits have quadrupled while the corporate tax percent has dropped by half. The payroll tax, paid by workers, has doubled... 

Companies call their CEO bonuses "performance pay" to get a lower rate. Private equity firms call fees "capital gains" to get a lower rate. Fast food companies call their lunch menus "intellectual property" to get a lower rate. 

Prisons and casinos have stooped to the level of calling themselves "real estate investment trusts" (REITs) to gain tax exemptions. Stooping lower yet, Disney and others have added cows and sheep to their greenspace to get a farmland exemption... 

The IRS estimated that 17 percent of taxes owed were not paid in 2006, leaving an underpayment of $450 billion. The revenue loss from tax havens approaches $450 billion. Subsidies from special deductions, exemptions, exclusions, credits, capital gains, and loopholes are estimated at over $1 trillion. Expenditures overwhelmingly benefit the richest taxpayers... 

Only 3 percent of the CEOs, upper management, and financial professionals were entrepreneurs in 2005, even though they made up about 60 percent of the richest .1% of Americans. A recent study found that less than 1 percent of all entrepreneurs came from very rich or very poor backgrounds. Job creators come from the middle class. 

So if the super-rich are not holding the world on their shoulders, what do they do with their money? According to both Marketwatch and economist Edward Wolff, over 90 percent of the assets owned by millionaires are held in a combination of low-risk investments (bonds and cash), personal business accounts, the stock market, and real estate.

Selling Entrepreneurialism

With all this talk of entrepreneurialism as the savior for the Wisconsin economy, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at some Wisconsin companies - size, performance, etc. Wisconsin, especially for its size, is home to numerous renowned, global, and Fortune 500 companies. Many are older, well-known companies, but there are also many newer, up-and-coming businesses.

Opening new businesses for the sake of claiming whatever number of new businesses have opened doesn't mean much if the majority of those companies close within a year or two. Studies have shown that although Wisconsin may not create as many companies, the ones that are born here tend to last and grow better than those in many other states. "The numbers suggest that Wisconsin is doing well when it comes to nurturing those companies that do get launched there," Eric Thompson, a University of Nebraska researcher, said. "Your entrepreneurs tend to be good at staying in business."

Doug Henwood elaborates, "The small business myth is probably the most durable and pervasive of all. It holds appeal across the political spectrum, from corporate lobbyists trying to sell tax breaks to postmodern New Agers trying to sell their vision of decentralization and local self-reliance...Small firms pay less than large ones, are less likely to offer health, pension, or child care benefits, and are often more dangerous to workers. With few exceptions, they're not all that innovative technologically...37% of the labor force changes its employment status every year...new jobs do not sprout in the greatest numbers at either fresh start-ups or small firms...Smaller employers do generate plenty of jobs, but they also destroy them in great quantities. If you add together creation and destruction, no clear picture emerges."

We also shouldn't forget that Montana, Vermont, Alaska, New Mexico, Mississippi, Idaho, Louisiana, and Kentucky are often ranked near the top of entrepreneurial lists. Yet these are hardly the places most would think of in regards to start-ups, innovation and technology.

From CNN Money

State Rank ▾ Company Fortune 500 rank City Revenues ($ millions) 1 Johnson Controls 67 Milwaukee 40,833.0 2 Northwestern Mutual 116 Milwaukee 24,861.0 3 Manpower 129 Milwaukee 22,006.0 4 Kohl's 146 Menomonee Falls 18,804.0 5 Oshkosh 337 Oshkosh 7,584.7 6 American Family Insurance Group 382 Madison 6,400.2 7 Rockwell Automation 410 Milwaukee 6,000.4 8 Bemis 457 Neenah 5,322.7 9 Harley-Davidson 458 Milwaukee 5,311.7 Here's a list of Wisconsin's largest public companies: 1. Johnson Controls Inc. – Glendale, WI – www.johnsoncontrols.com 2. Manpower Inc. – Milwaukee, WI – www.us.manpower.com 3. Kohl’s Corp. – Menomonee Falls, WI – www.kohls.com 4. Oshkosh Corp. – Oshkosh, WI – www.oshkoshtruckcorporation.com 5. Harley‐Davidson Inc. – Milwaukee, WI – www.harley‐davidson.com 6. Rockwell Automation Inc. – Milwaukee, WI – www.rockwellautomation.com 7. Fiserv Inc. – Brookfield, WI – www.fiserv.com 8. Manitowoc Co. Inc. – Manitowoc, WI – www.manitowoc.com 9. Wisconsin Energy Corp. – Milwaukee, WI – www.wisconsinenergy.com 10. Marshall & Ilsley Corp. – Milwaukee, WI – www.micorp.com 11. Bemis Co. Inc. – Neenah, WI – www.bemis.com 12. Alliant Energy Corp. – Madison, WI – www.alliantenergy.com 13. Joy Global Inc. – Milwaukee, WI – www.joyglobal.com 14. Snap‐on Inc. – Pleasant Prairie, WI – www.snapon.com 15. Bucyrus International Inc. – South Milwaukee, WI – www.bucyrus.com 16. A.O. Smith Corp. – Milwaukee, WI – www.aosmith.com 17. Regal‐Beloit Corp. – Beloit, WI – www.regal‐beloit.com 18. Briggs & Stratton Corp. – Wauwatosa, WI – www.briggsandstratton.com 19. Plexus Corp. – Neenah, WI – www.plexus.com 20. MGIC Investment Corp. – Milwaukee, WI – www.mgic.com 21. Metavante Technologies Inc. – Brown Deer, WI – www.metavante.com 22. Actuant Corp. – Butler, WI – www.actuant.com 23. Brady Corp. – Milwaukee, WI – www.bradycorp.com 24. Associated Banc‐Corp – Green Bay, WI – www.associatedbank.com 25. Modine Manufacturing Co. – Racine, WI – www.modine.com 26. Sensient Technologies Corp. – Milwaukee, WI – www.sensient‐tech.com 27. Wausau Paper Corp. – Mosinee, WI – www.wausaupaper.com 28. School Specialty Inc. – Greenville, WI – www.schoolspecialty.com 29. Marten Transport Ltd. – Mondovi, WI – www.marten.com 30. MGE Energy Inc. –Madison, WI – www.mgeenergy.com 31. Journal Communications Inc. – Milwaukee, WI – www.journalcommunications.com 32. Ladish Co. Inc. – Cudahy, WI – www.ladishco.com 33. National Presto Industries Inc. – Eau Claire, WI – www.gopresto.com 34. Johnson Outdoors Inc. – Racine, WI – www.johnsonoutdoors.com 35. The Marcus Corp. – Milwaukee, WI – www.marcuscorp.com 36. Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin Inc. – Madison, WI – www.anchorbank.com 37. Twin Disc Inc. – Racine, WI – www.twindisc.com 38. Badger Meter Inc. – Brown Deer, WI – www.badgermeter.com 39. Great Wolf Resorts Inc. – Madison, WI – www.greatwolfresorts.com 40. Assisted Living Concepts Inc. – Menomonee Falls, WI – www.alcco.com 41. Weyco Group Inc. – Milwaukee, WI‐ www.weycogroup.com 42. TomoTherapy Inc. – Madison, WI – www.tomotherapy.com 43. Bank Mutual Corp. – Brown Deer, WI – www.bankmutualcorp.com 44. Strattec Security Corp. – Milwaukee, WI – www.strattec.com 45. Renaissance Learning Inc. – Wisconsin Rapids, WI – www.renlearn.com 46. Waterstone Financial Inc. – Wauwatosa, WI – www.wsbonline.com 47. Tufco Technologies Inc. – Green Bay, WI – www.tufco.com 48. Magnetek Inc. – Menomonee Falls, WI – www.magnetek.com 49. Orion Energy Systems Inc. – Manitowoc, WI – www.oriones.com 50. Baylake Corp. – Sturgeon Bay, WI – www.baylake.com Here's a list of Wisconsin largest public and private employers: Rank Employer Name 1 WAL-MART ASSOCIATES INC 2 U W-MADISON 3 US POSTAL SERVICE 4 MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOL 5 MENARDS 6 DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS 7 MARSHFIELD CLINIC 8 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 9 CITY OF MILWAUKEE 10 AURORA HEALTH CARE METRO, INC 11 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN HOSPITALS & 12 GUNDERSEN LUTHERAN ADMINISTRATIVE 13 TARGET CORP 14 KWIK TRIP 15 PRIME CARE HEALTH PLAN 16 AURORA HEALTH CARE INC 17 QUAD/GRAPHICS INC 18 EPIC SYSTEMS CORP 19 FROEDTERT MEMORIAL LUTHERAN HOSPITA 20 ULTRA MART FOODS LLC 21 THEDACARE GROUP 22 KOHLER CO 23 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES 24 AURORA MEDICAL GROUP INC 25 WALGREEN CO

The Top Companies in Wisconsin on the 2012 Inc. 5000

RANK	COMPANY NAME	3-YEAR % GROWTH	REVENUE (millions)	STATE
79	Dynamic Recycling	3,530%	$7.1 million	WI
398	Quincy Bioscience	937%	$12.7 million	WI
544	RevolutionEHR	685%	$2 million	WI
663	Facility Gateway	542%	$11.5 million	WI
689	Stella & Chewy's	516%	$11.9 million	WI
876	Authenticom	380%	$14.6 million	WI
1019	Commercial Bargains	310%	$2.2 million	WI
1131	BizLab	279%	$21.5 million	WI
1251	TRC Global Solutions	247%	$25.2 million	WI
1266	Millennium	243%	$28.1 million	WI
1364	Delta Media	224%	$7.5 million	WI
1506	True Process	197%	$7.8 million	WI
1636	Beyond The Office Door	179%	$2.4 million	WI
1692	TMI Consulting	170%	$3.2 million	WI
1711	Midwest Prototyping	167%	$2.8 million	WI
1753	ESC Services	163%	$3 million	WI
1834	Tim O'Brien Homes	152%	$21 million	WI
1959	Forte Research Systems	138%	$7.2 million	WI
2048	Heartland Business Systems	129%	$135.7 million	WI
2073	Zeon Solutions	127%	$9.1 million	WI
2210	SASid Insurance Development	116%	$4.2 million	WI
2225	Solaris	115%	$3.5 million	WI
2550	Centare	95%	$10.3 million	WI
2763	Codeworks	84%	$24.5 million	WI
2877	Networkers Funding	79%	$3.3 million	WI
2927	Waukesha Metal Products	76%	$27.3 million	WI
2986	JGear	73%	$5.6 million	WI
3038	Elite Human Capital Group	71%	$5.7 million	WI
3215	Batteries Plus	64%	$164.8 million	WI
3279	Quest CE	61%	$3.1 million	WI
3339	New Glarus Brewing	58%	$26.4 million	WI
3341	ABC Supply	58%	$4.6 billion	WI
3405	Campbellsport Building Supply	56%	$57.2 million	WI
3445	New Resources Consulting	55%	$16.7 million	WI
3461	First Edge Solutions	55%	$9 million	WI
3513	Alpha Source	53%	$18.6 million	WI
3547	Americollect	52%	$6.8 million	WI
3681	Superior Support Resources	47%	$5.3 million	WI
3753	Wireless Logic	44%	$7.1 million	WI
3763	Synergy Consortium Services	44%	$8.3 million	WI
3788	Ascential Service	43%	$22.5 million	WI
3794	Doig	43%	$12.1 million	WI
3917	OnCourse Learning	39%	$24.4 million	WI
4049	DiscountRamps.com	35%	$20.7 million	WI
4087	QPS Employment Group	33%	$114.1 million	WI
4121	Symmetry	32%	$12.2 million	WI
4152	TAPCO	31%	$36.2 million	WI
4154	Batzner Pest Management	31%	$9.1 million	WI
4226	Enviro-Safe Consulting	29%	$2.9 million	WI
4267	Advanced Waste Services	29%	$39.2 million	WI
4303	Standard Process	27%	$124.4 million	WI
4361	Huberty & Associates	26%	$3.4 million	WI
4442	Mantz Automation	23%	$19.7 million	WI
4475	Prefinished Staining Products	22%	$2.1 million	WI
4487	Jung Express	22%	$9.3 million	WI
4490	Spectrum Industries	22%	$29.9 million	WI
4527	Crystal Finishing Systems	20%	$88 million	WI
4577	Goff's Enterprises	19%	$6 million	WI
4591	Northwire - NWI Lab 360	19%	$47.9 million	WI
4635	InForm Product Development	17%	$2.9 million	WI
4659	HUSCO International	17%	$272.8 million	WI
4743	InPro	13%	$93.4 million	WI
4791	Fi-Med Management	12%	$6.4 million	WI
4809	Graphics Systems	12%	$11.1 million	WI
4872	Seaway Printing Company	9%	$5.1 million	WI
4928	Trident Contract Management	8%	$8.8 million	WI
4969	Data Dimensions	6%	$21.9 million	WI

The Wisconsin 75 is an annual ranking and recognition of the largest closely held companies headquartered in Wisconsin. The list ranks the Top 75 companies by revenue, as determined by a voluntary submission of a qualifications form.

1. S.C. Johnson & Son Inc., Racine

2. U.S. Venture, Inc., Kimberly

3. Kohler Co., Kohler

4. ABC Supply Co. Inc, Beloit

5. Quad/Graphics, Sussex

6. Kwik Trip, Inc., La Crosse

7. Schneider National Inc., Green Bay

8. Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc., Arcadia

9. Sentry Insurance, Stevens Point

10. Uline, Pleasant Prairie

11. Menasha Corporation [1], Neenah

12. Charter Manufacturing Company Inc., Mequon

13. Green Bay Packaging Inc., Green Bay

14. Sargento Foods Inc., Plymouth

15. The DeLong Co. Inc., [4] Clinton

16. Robert W. Baird & Co., Milwaukee

17. Trek Bicycle Corporation, Waterloo

18. Appleton, Appleton

19. ACUITY, Sheboygan

20. Masters Gallery Foods, Inc., Plymouth

21. Johnsonville Sausage, LLC, Sheboygan Falls

22. Bergstrom Automotive, Neenah

23. West Bend Mutual Insurance Co., West Bend

24. Boucher Automotive Group, Greenfield

25. Greenheck Fan Corporation, Schofield

26. Miron Construction Co., Inc., Neenah

27. Rockline Industries Inc., Sheboygan

28. Lakeside Foods Inc., Manitowoc

29. Hydrite Chemical Co., Brookfield

30. Adelman Travel Group, Milwaukee

31. Windway Capital Corp., Sheboygan

32. The Boldt Company, Appleton

33. Husco International, Inc., Waukesha

34. Ewald Automotive Group, LLC, Milwaukee

35. J.P. Cullen & Sons, Inc., Janesville

36. Miller Compressing Company, Milwaukee

37. Edward H. Wolf & Sons, Inc., Slinger

38. Meridian Industries Inc., Milwaukee

39. JX Enterprises Inc., Pewaukee

40. Quality State Oil Co. Inc., Sheboygan

41. C.D. Smith Construction, Inc. *, Fond du Lac

42. Bauer Built Inc., Durand

43. Gehl Foods, Inc. *, Germantown

44. Werner Electric Supply Co., Neenah

45. First Supply LLC, Madison

46. Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc., Middleton

47. Palermo Villa, Inc., Milwaukee

48. Wausau Supply Company, Schofield

49. J.F. Ahern Co., Fond du Lac

50. Mayville Engineering Co. Inc., Mayville

51. Gustave A. Larson Company, Pewaukee

52. Gordon Flesch Company Inc., Madison

53. Everbrite, LLC, Greenfield

54. Hunzinger Construction Co., Brookfield

55. Serigraph Inc., West Bend

56. Herzing University, Milwaukee

57. Standard Process, Inc. [3], Palmyra

58. W.T. Walker Group, Inc., Milwaukee

59. Inland Power Group, Inc., Butler

60. Kolbe & Kolbe Millwork Co. Inc., Wausau

61. Placon Corporation, Fitchburg

62. QPS Employment Group, Brookfield

63. Derse, Inc., Milwaukee

64. Western States Envelope and Label, Butler

65. Baptista’s Bakery, Inc. *[2], Franklin

66. Zilber Ltd., Milwaukee

67. Miller-St. Nazianz, Inc., St. Nazianz

68. InPro Corporation * [5], Muskego

69. Badger Truck Center, Inc., Milwaukee

70. Holz Motors Inc., Hales Corners

71. Dental Associates, Wauwatosa

72. Engman-Taylor Company, Inc., Menomonee Falls

73. Eggers Industries, Two Rivers

74. Shorewest, Realtors, Brookfield

75. Super Steel LLC *, Milwaukee

Wisconsin has 9 companies on Forbes Global 2000 (the 2000 biggest companies in four metrics; sales, profits, assets and market value).

In 'Best States To Live', Wisconsin ranks 13th.

FYI - Wisconsin State & County Quick Facts