Exact Sciences is giving credit to University of Wisconsin graduates and Madison locals who are now employed there for the company’s recent expansion and success.
When Exact Sciences was brought to Madison, there were fewer than 10 employees, a number that slowly increased until 2013, when there was a spike in employment.
Today, that number has grown to about 400 employees and is expected to double to about 800 by the end of the year, Exact Sciences spokesperson J.P. Fielder said. The company’s stock price skyrocketed, as well; starting at $0.83 in 2009, the price of their stock was at $27.78 this Wednesday.
Their employee engagement is at 92 percent, which is triple the national average of 31.5 percent, Fielder said.
Kevin Conroy, the chairman and CEO of Exact Sciences, attributes much of the success of Exact Science’s growth to the talented employees hired directly from UW-Madison and the UW System.
“[The company] would not have been successful without our ability to recruit people directly from UW-Madison, because the talent level is so high there,” Conroy said.
The company started 20 years ago originally in Massachusetts, Fielder said.
In 2009, however, the company changed management and was brought to Madison.
“One of the key reasons [management] brought [the company] here was the educated based employees that they could get from this area,” Fielder said. “Obviously, Madison is a cornerstone of the University of Wisconsin. About 50 percent of our workforce in the research and development labs are UW graduates.”
The company got a boost from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of its non-invasive Cologuard test that detects signs of colon cancer using DNA from stool samples, Conroy said.
The product was developed to fulfill a significant need, designed for patient-friendly use and making ordering easy for doctors, Conroy said.
Conroy said he hopes Exact Sciences’ success will inspire other entrepreneurs in Madison, as more success stories could lead to more people taking risks and start their own companies.
“This is incredibly important because the data shows nationwide, on a net basis, all job growth comes from startups. … There is a need of a constant supply of entrepreneurs to keep the state’s economy strong,” Conroy said.
After designing a new cancer screening process, the company caught the attention of the public, including a popular website featuring startups in Madison.
Madisonstartups.com promotes local business entrepreneurs and UW graduates with inspiring success stories and hope for jobs for future graduates.
“The startup ecosystem in Madison has exploded in growth over the past few years,” Brian Lee, the publication’s editor-in-chief, said.
Today, entrepreneurs in Madison inspired by similar success stories are lucky to have a variety of resources to help get them started, Lee said, noting the various accelerator programs that help with office space, funding or advice as they seek to develop their business.
“Our community should be proud of the many smart, driven and talented entrepreneurs we have in the area,” Lee said. “In other words, Madison is a great place to start a business.”
