Three Milwaukee aldermen are among those criticizing Gov. Scott Walker’s plan for a multi-million dollar marketing campaign to attract more workers to the state.
The governor proposed a $6.8 million ad campaign last week to attract millennial workers and veterans from other Midwest metros.
In a statement issued Monday, aldermen Michael Murphy, Jose Perez and Cavalier Johnson said they would rather see the state put that money toward education and infrastructure.
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“Improving just simple workforce training or transportation needs to allow workers, perhaps in Milwaukee, to get to locations outside of certain areas would be a better investment,” Murphy said.
State economic development officials are pushing back against critics of the marketing campaign.
Tricia Braun, of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., said there’s no reason the state can’t do both.
“This promotion piece is one part of a multifaceted approach to addressing some of our workforce challenges that Wisconsin has as many other states have,” Braun said. “But this is the piece that we’re not yet doing — that we really need to start promoting ourselves outside of Wisconsin.”
The governor’s proposal would need approval from lawmakers. If approved, it would begin next spring.
WEDC is already running a $1 million dollar marketing campaign in the Chicago area in January.
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