Walker’s out there speaking with carefully crafting statistics, but families don’t eat statistics, they eat food – food they have to pay for at grocery stores.

MILWAUKEE - The following is the statement of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andy Gronik with regards to Gov. Scott Walker’s record on job creation and the economy under his tutelage:

“Our economy is broken and Scott Walker broke it. Bottom line, if Walker were held to the same standards executives are held to in the private sector, he would be fired and he'd find it hard to land another job.

“While Walker’s out there speaking with carefully crafting statistics about Wisconsin’s economy, it’s clear to me that he’s oblivious to the fact that families don’t eat statistics, they eat food – food they have to pay for at grocery stores.  The reality is that in Walker’s economy, families are working two, three, or four jobs and still struggling to pay their rent. Parents are not seeing their kids, and these families can’t even dream about taking a vacation in our beautiful state. Well, that’s not a high quality of life and it's definitely not my Wisconsin!

“I spent 35 years in the real world helping struggling companies who often couldn’t go to a regular bank and borrow money. I helped them solve complex problems so they could access the money they needed to grow and create good-paying jobs. I did this by bringing people together, not dividing them like Walker. I’m interested in finding the very best ideas for solving the issues dividing our state and I don’t care where these ideas come from as long as they put the interests of people of our state, and the quality of their lives, first.

“My vision for the state builds on Wisconsin’s strengths and creates good-paying, family-sustaining jobs in science, technology, manufacturing, and agriculture. They open the door to opportunity for people living in poverty and empower them to live their lives independent of government assistance while energizing Wisconsin businesses with the skilled labor needed to grow their companies. Wisconsin has the infrastructure to claim world leadership in the industries supporting food production, packaging and distribution, freshwater and clean air technologies, and in renewable energy. We can bring families back to rural communities that Walker has left to die on the vine just by being who were are in Wisconsin, not by buying our way out by shoveling taxpayer money off to Foxconn.”

A closer look at Gov. Scott Walker's failures on the economy and job creation:

- 34th in the nation in private-sector job growth since 2010 [1]

- Missed out on more than 100,000 jobs due to private-sector job growth lagging behind the national average. [2]​

- Lagged behind the national pace of job growth at 7.9% from 2010 compared to 13.2% nationally over same period.[3]​

- Dead last in business start-up activity over the past three years. [4]​

- 10th most moved from state in the country. [5]​

- Created fewer jobs than neighboring Minnesota despite having a larger population. [6]​

- 11% unemployment rate for African-Americans in 2016. [7]​

- Stagnant wage growth. The median worker earns less than one dollar per hour more than the median worker earned nearly 40 years ago. [8]​

- True cost of Walker’s Foxconn Hail Mary is now around $4.5 billion. [9]​

- Even in the hypothetical projections offered by Foxconn, taxpayers don’t get paid back for this highly speculative investment until 2043. [10]

A closer look at Andy Gronik's vision for the economy and job creation in Wisconsin:

- Focus economic development initiatives with clearly defined goals and tactics;
- Reward cooperative economic development;
- Create regional jobs training programs that pay people a living wage to acquire the job skills needed to help grow Wisconsin businesses throughout our state;
- Invest in all forms of transportation infrastructure and in high-speed Internet and cellular technologies so Wisconsin communities are connected to business opportunities worldwide;
- Abolish WEDC that’s been squandering taxpayer money and the DWD that’s been ineffective at connecting Wisconsin businesses to the trained workers needed to grow and create one department without silos that energize our economy and maximizes the potential of every Wisconsinite to contribute to our new 21st-century economy;
- Expand access all layers of capital needed to support entrepreneurial success; 
- Reform corporate tax laws to promote the growth of small, medium and large businesses throughout our state;
- Establish regional governor’s boards of local entrepreneurs, bankers, attorneys, accountants and consultants to help incubate and grow successful new businesses;
- Bring Wisconsin businesses and Wisconsin’s systems of education together to enter into new ventures that leverage their collective brainpower, lower the cost of innovation and create opportunities to share in the success of profitable ventures 
- Establish 24/7 job concierge service to accelerate placement of qualified applicants with good-paying jobs
- Accelerate the skills training needed in Wisconsin by creating funnels with private-public partnerships with businesses hosting training facilities; union’s leveraging training facilities and apprenticeship programs; partnerships with Wisconsin technical schools; and expanding the capabilities and focus of Wisconsin’s two-year colleges
- Recruit young graduates back to our state by helping them pay back student debt;
- Make Wisconsin the place for Millennials by making them stakeholders in our future and creating the kinds of living and work environments young people want throughout our state.

Background:

[1] Wisconsin’s private sector job growth remains well behind the national pace of growth. Since December 2010, Wisconsin’s private-sector job base has grown 7.9 percent. Nationally, the private sector job base grew by 13.2 percent over the same period. Wisconsin private sector job growth over that period ranks 34th. This means two-thirds of the states in the nation posted stronger growth over the same period.” The State of Working Wisconsin 2017: Facts & Figures, Center on Wisconsin Strategy, Laura Dresser and Joel Rogers, 8/31/17

[2]“The state is currently 120,000 jobs short of where we would be if we just grew at the national rate.” The State of Working Wisconsin 2017: Facts & Figures, Center on Wisconsin Strategy, Laura Dresser and Joel Rogers, 8/31/17

[3] “Wisconsin’s private sector job growth remains well behind the national pace of growth. Since December 2010, Wisconsin’s private-sector job base has grown 7.9 percent. Nationally, the private sector job base grew by 13.2 percent over the same period.” The State of Working Wisconsin 2017: Facts & Figures, Center on Wisconsin Strategy, Laura Dresser and Joel Rogers, 8/31/17

[4] “For the third year running, Wisconsin has placed 50th among the 50 states in startup activity as measured by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, one of the country’s leading entrepreneurship advocacy and research organizations. Not only was Wisconsin last; the gap between Wisconsin and the next-lowest states widened significantly from 2016 and 2015. While other states are clustered with relatively small differences from one state to the next, Wisconsin stands as an outlier – on the low end.”For third straight year, Wisconsin ranks last in business startup activity, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5/18/17/

[5]  “Wisconsin has been named one of the most moved from states in 2017, according to a new study. The 2017 National Movers Study by United Van Lines says more people moved out of Wisconsin than into it in the last year — with 55 percent of moves being outbound.” Study: Wisconsin is 10th most moved-from state in 2017, Fox 6 Milwaukee, Megan Pospychala, 1/2/18

[6]  “In the 1990s, Wisconsin had nearly 200,000 more jobs than Minnesota. Minnesota has been closing the gap. In late 2016, for the first time, the number of jobs in the state of Minnesota exceeded Wisconsin.” The State of Working Wisconsin 2017: Facts & Figures, Center on Wisconsin Strategy, Laura Dresser and Joel Rogers, 8/31/17

[7] “In 2016, Wisconsin’s African American unemployment rate was 11 percent – a rate higher than the state’s overall rate in the worse months of the Great Recession. The opportunities implied by the lower unemployment rates are not available to everyone.” The State of Working Wisconsin 2017: Facts & Figures, Center on Wisconsin Strategy, Laura Dresser and Joel Rogers, 8/31/17

[8] “Compared to 1979, Wisconsin’s median worker today has more education and is working with more productive technology. Even with their higher education and productivity, however, that worker earns not even $1 per hour more than the median earned nearly 40 years ago.” The State of Working Wisconsin 2017: Facts & Figures, Center on Wisconsin Strategy, Laura Dresser and Joel Rogers, 8/31/17

[9] “A newly released memo projects the public cost for a planned Foxconn manufacturing project near Racine could near $4.5 billion — nearly 50 percent more than the $3 billion cost initially cited by the project’s chief proponent at the state Capitol, Gov. Scott Walker.” Memo: Foxconn cost to public nearing $4.5 billion, Wisconsin State Journal, Mark Sommerhauser, 1/17/18

[10] ‘The state of Wisconsin wouldn't break even on its $3 billion incentive package for tech manufacturer Foxconn until the year 2043, according to an estimate released Tuesday by the Legislature's nonpartisan budget office.” Wisconsin Wouldn’t Break Even On Foxconn Deal Until 2043, Wisconsin Public Radio, Laurel White, 8/8/17