Mayor Dave Cieslewicz announced his plan Thursday for increasing Madison's job market and economic prosperity by using several small initiatives.
Mark Bugher, chair of the Economic Development Commission and the director of University Research Park, said these initiatives target several areas identified by the EDC as hindrances to Madison's economic growth.
"They're a lot of modest steps," City Council President Austin King said. "But together, they can lead us to an economic high-road."
Some of the more important areas, King added, are the new childcare policies, "buy local" policies and a small-business bus pass program.
The childcare initiative will help to create more jobs by increasing the city's childcare funding by 10 percent, which will also lower the cost of childcare to parents, King said.
He also said there is an initiative that will allow small business employees to be included in the Metro free-ride program. King said he supports this initiative because it achieves several goals — by reducing traffic, reducing pollution and increasing the use of our public transportation, he added, we are helping to support Madison's economy on multiple levels.
By developing childcare, free-ride programs and "buy local" policies, and by promoting tourism and rewriting the city's zoning plans, Cieslewicz said he foresees Madison having more and better-paying jobs.
"Generally speaking, part of the goal here is to keep a lot of employment opportunities in Madison, so college students have the opportunity to stay here," said George Twigg, spokesperson for the mayor. "But in order to have that, we need to have a good supply of good-paying jobs."
Twigg also said by targeting these economic issues from several angles, the initiatives please both pro-business groups and progressives. Instead of having both parties at each other's throats, he argued, it seems as though this initiative has temporarily brought them together.
Twigg said he attributes this unity to the plan's balanced ways of improving Madison's economy.
Through this plan, Cieslewicz hopes to set an example for economic initiatives in years to come, King added.
"These initiatives build off my Healthy City economic development blueprint," Cieslewicz said in a release. "They emphasize its theme that our economic development strategy needs be innovative, regional and inclusive, and it needs to build on our high quality of life."
The mayor's executive operating budget, which is subject to approval from the City Council, will be introduced Tuesday and will include a majority of these initiatives. With one of the strongest economies, Twigg said, the mayor will continue to keep Madison's economic outlook as one of his highest priorities.
"Our challenge is to avoid becoming complacent and to make sure that we are prepared for the challenges of the future," Ciezlewicz said. "Madison is changing, and the economy is changing. If we want to continue our past success, we need to adapt to those changes."
