Tim King, principal of ION Consulting, talked about Broadband and creating a local network as an opportunity for cities. With a local network, a community can be the "information utility" for its businesses and citizens.

King said local broadband is more private, more secure and very fast. He warned of legislation to block utilities from being able to offer this service.

Surveys indicate a lack of understanding of broadband and not enough demand. Private firms are helping to increase interest.

According to King, communities can steer some of the online purchases to local businesses with a local network. It also creates jobs and attracts high-tech businesses and citizens.

How do you get started?
Get organized
Do your homework on other communities with Local networks
Position political influences
Determine the "affinity" thread of the community.

Brad Buchner, senior manager with Grant Thornton LLP, focused on manufacturing in Wisconsin and the opportunities and challenges ahead.

Looking at trends, Buchner pointed out a decline in inventories and sales ratios from 1992 to 2001. Demand in sales is going down at a quicker rate than inventories. He also looked at manufacturing capacity utilization that showed a steady downward trend in the past year. Job losses are expected to continue through 2002.

Buchner revealed findings from a survey of manufacturing executives. The survey revealed an increase in the level of optimism. The key concerns among executives were: (1) financial concerns, (2) growth, and (3) the economy.

The survey also indicated 26.5 percent of manufacturers expect to expand in the state and 98 percent said they have no plans to leave the state in the next year or two. Good news for Wisconsin.

Don Nichols, director of the University of Wisconsin's World Affairs and Global Economy (WAGE) Initiative, shared his view of the change in the economy. "There is a structural transformation going on," said Nichols.

Nichols attributed the change to specialization and increased communication capabilities. He called the current economy the "Knowledge economy" and showed charts revealing a downtrend in manufacturing.

There is no decline on the consumer side, indicating manufacturing goods are still important in the consumer segment. "How they are made is what is changing," said Nichols. "It's not true that manufacturing is going down in importance."

Nichols cited an example of how manufacturing is changing: The input necessary to make a Boeing plane includes 50 tons of aluminum and 3 million emails.

According to Nichols there is a fragmentation of expertise into specialized firms – the entrepreneurial economy.

An example is the Biotech cluster in Madison where firms can share expertise and learn from each other even though they may not have a link to the University.

Nichols' proposed economic development strategy – attract clusters of experts.