 In Biz
What brain drain? It’s a brain gain!
by Bill Haight
So much for the alleged “brain drain,” the notion that our brightest and best are leaving the area for greener pastures. Last month’s In Business listing of the “40 Under 40” illustrates a “brain gain.” Of the young up-and-comers featured, nearly two thirds were originally from other states or foreign countries. Of the 15 who were already Wisconsinites, only seven were native Madisonians, so Madison is also “brain-gaining” from the rest of the state.
What attracted these valuable human assets to our area and what makes them stay? The UW-Madison surely played a key role. Forty-two percent listed an undergrad degree from UW-Madison. Another 20% with undergrad degrees from elsewhere – including prestigious institutions such as Harvard, Michigan, and Northwestern – had an additional graduate degree from UW-Madison.
One of the individuals profiled observed: “[Dane County is a] Fantastic place to start a company, especially with the abundance of talent that comes out of UW.”
Another obvious commonality is diversity (if that can be a commonality). Geographical, cultural, racial and economic diversity was evident. Many were business entrepreneurs, as would be expected in a selection by this magazine, but impressive nonprofit, governmental, and educational tracks were represented as well. The UW connection notwithstanding, there was even educational diversity: three of the 40 listed no higher education!
About the same time I was reviewing the summaries of these honorees, I read that the Kiplinger organization ranked Madison as the third best city for “empty nesters” (Their definition: no kids and aged 45-64). The reasons Kiplinger gave are likely the very same reasons that make our community attractive to the “40 under 40” group. Among the criteria Kiplinger used were the “3T’s” – technology, talent, and tolerance for all types of people.
Apparently, tolerance of personal differences is important, whether you’re 21, like the youngest “forty under…” or 64, like the oldest “empty nester.”
Madison, of course, in recent years has been ranked in a number of comparisons with other cities for a variety of attributes, some important and others obscure. The Kiplinger rankings of “empty nesters’ mentioned above, for instance, ranked San Francisco, Seattle and Madison one, two and three.
A paper from the UW La Follette School of Public Affairs warns about making comparisons between cities. The study says, “Often development planners compare their cities to the cities they admire rather than their homes’ true peers.” (Like comparing Madison and San Francisco, maybe?) The paper then outlined its methodology for finding the best “comparison cities.” It used factors such as population, median house price to income ratio, and crime data to help avoid apples-to-oranges comparisons.
For the Madison Metropolitan Area, La Follette School suggests: Colorado Springs, Des Moines-West Des Moines, Boise City-Tampa, Albuquerque, Spokane, Lexington-Fayette, KY, Eugene-Springfield, OR, Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormon, Ann Arbor and Palm Bay, FL. So if you’re looking to steal some ideas from peers located elsewhere, these are the cities you should be targeting.
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