6 companies join up to create tech hub
Nonprofit effort called MKE Hub Coalition aims to double Milwaukee’s technology workers by 2025
The push to transform Milwaukee into a hub for technology is building.
Six of the metro area’s large employers announced Friday the MKE Tech Hub Coalition, a not-for-profit effort with more than $5 million committed by the member companies.
The goal: double the number of Milwaukee’s technology workers by 2025. They want this area to be known as much for technology as it is for beer and cheese. How exactly the coalition will accomplish this is up for discussion.
The MKE Tech Hub Coalition, led by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., includes Accenture, Advocate Aurora Health, Johnson Controls, Kohl’s and Rockwell Automation. These founding companies hope to be joined by other Milwaukee businesses.
Milwaukee trails cities known for technology like San Francisco and Austin, Texas, for the number of computer programmers and software developers. In Milwaukee, about 32 out of 1,000 workers have roles with computers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. San Francisco and Austin both have about 60 per 1,000.
Northwestern Mutual CEO John Schlifske first floated the idea for a technology cluster in Milwaukee more than a year ago. The demand for technology workers is increasing, Schlifske said, which made pitching the coalition easy.
“Technology is moving for most companies from a back-office support function to a critical competency that everyone needs to be viable — creating a need for tech workers that didn’t exist,” he said.
One step is to change the perception that Milwaukee doesn’t have a tech community, Schlifske said. He wants people to see Milwaukee as a place where you can have a tech career and be part of a broader ecosystem.
“I’m not a PR person, but we have to figure that out and market our strengths,” he said.
Four main goals as part of attracting and retaining technology talent were identified: increasing the number of technology startups, expanding the number of companies that relocate to or grow in Milwaukee, cultivating a dynamic vision and image for the region, and creating an environment to support freelancers.
“If you remove yourself from ‘how does this benefit Advocate or Northwestern Mutual,’ you start thinking
about what does the local economy need for us to be successful,” said Mike Rodgers, Advocate Aurora Health vice president of commercial innovation.
“If we’re all trying to get the same tech worker, they’ll just bounce from company to company.”
Instead, Rodgers said, this coalition is focused on building and retaining the best talent pool in the area.
The more than $5 million committed by the founding six members will serve as a two-year operating budget for the coalition, Schlifske said. That budget would provide “a bare minimum of deliverables,” he said.
But there’s a lot to figure out. First, the coalition needs a board. Then a CEO to run it. An office needs to be selected. Additional staff hired.
This coalition adds to the list of organizations thinking about how Milwaukee can be a desirable place for technology workers.
Startup accelerator gener8tor has brought dozens of companies to Milwaukee for its flagship program since 2012. Startup Milwaukee has been creating a community for entrepreneurs and technologists in the area since 2016. Its annual Startup Milwaukee Week is Nov. 11 to 17.
88Nine Radio Milwaukee hosts tech talks and hackathons with the goal of making the tech scene more accessible and inclusive. Jet Constellations’ Milky Way Tech Hub is focused on providing resources to underrepresented groups in tech.
Other corporations not yet named to be involved in the coalition are actively thinking about the changing workforce too.
Sarah Hauer can be reached at shauer@journalsentinel.com or on Instagram @HauerSarah and Twitter @SarahHauer. Subscribe to her weekly newsletter Be MKE at jsonline.com/bemke.