Work & the Economy
Evers announces another $30M in regional workforce expansion projects
In the last batch of state grants for programs to address persistent workforce shortages in Wisconsin, six projects across the state will share in more than $30 million for training and for addressing problems that have been identified as potential work barriers, including housing, child care and transportation. Gov. Tony Evers announced the grants Wednesday. […]
Workforce grants to boost manufacturing, education, building trades and health care
Programs in manufacturing, science and technology, education, the building trades and health care will share in more than $11 million in new state grants that Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced Thursday. The grants are part of the second batch of Workforce Innovation Grants that the Evers administration has been awarding from the American Rescue Plan […]
State unveils $19.5M in grants to bolster workforce in manufacturing, forestry
Projects to provide training, bolster job skills and lower barriers to employment in a broad swath of northern Wisconsin will get $19.5 million in support in a series of grants that Gov. Tony Evers announced Tuesday. The grants are the latest round in a series of programs that the state is funding from federal pandemic […]
Small business group owners will quiz U.S. Senate hopefuls in series of forums
An organization that represents small business owners across the state will sponsor three roundtable sessions with prospective candidates in this fall’s U.S. Senate race, starting with one in Madison on Wednesday. The events are not debates, says Shawn Phetteplace, midwest regional manager for Main Street Alliance, which is organizing the sessions. They are structured to […]
Federal dairy innovation program gets a boost from pandemic relief funds
A federal program will give Wisconsin and 10 other states a $20 million boost to help farmers, cheese makers and other dairy processors develop new products and new markets to help stabilize the embattled dairy industry. The funds, announced by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) Monday at a Jefferson County cheese producer, will expand the Dairy […]
Wisconsin sees labor force rise
Wisconsin’s unemployment rate ticked up up to 2.9% in May from its historically low 2.8% in April, but that is actually good news. That uptick wasn’t caused by job losses—in fact the preliminary estimates for May 2022 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed a historic high of 3,059,300 Wisconsinites were employed. What changed in […]
West Allis Starbucks workers seek unionization
Workers at a Starbucks cafe in West Allis have taken a step towards unionization by petitioning the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for an election. The workers, who issued the demand Tuesday morning, are asking for union recognition from CEO Howard Schultz and local management. A large majority of workers at the store, located at […]
Will it be ‘every state for themselves’ as the federal COVID cash dries up?
WASHINGTON — State and local health departments remain in limbo over whether they’ll need to single-handedly fund their own COVID-19 vaccines and treatments as a stalemate in Congress drags into its fourth month. The Biden administration has raised alarm bells about the risk of inaction after sending Congress a request for $22.5 billion in early […]
GOP letter asks EPA to relax gas rule to cut costs; environmentalist warns health would suffer
A group of Wisconsin Republican lawmakers wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tuesday asking the EPA to lift the requirement to use reformulated gasoline in the state’s southeastern counties to save drivers money. An environmental advocate warned that even if that does save money in the short term, it would impose higher costs on […]
Court clears the way to release workplace COVID-19 data
State health officials are free to release data that would identify which employers have experienced COVID-19 outbreaks, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. In an opinion issued Tuesday morning, the state’s highest court stated that three business lobbying groups had no basis to block release of the data, which was prompted by a news media […]
Advocates for $15-an-hour federal minimum wage press Biden for a meeting
WASHINGTON — The Poor People’s Campaign is urging President Joe Biden to meet with low-income workers before the organization’s march on Washington, D.C., on June 18 to advocate for a $15 federal minimum wage. “What we cannot do is be silent anymore,” Rev. William Barber II, the co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, said during […]
Vilsack offers integrated plan for domestic food production
The Biden administration has set aside billions of dollars to help the nation’s food supply chain recover from the coronavirus pandemic — and, more recently, the looming global effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Last week it announced new funding and a comprehensive overview of how those initiatives mesh. “A transformed food system is part […]