Marketplace Today Blog

By John Schmid
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Gov. Jim Doyle on Tuesday said he withdrew funding for a $100,000 consultant at the Madison-based University of Wisconsin System, who was hired to create investment and jobs across the state in water technology.

The UW System position infuriated Milwaukee-area business leaders and legislators, who accused UW System officials in Madison of hijacking an initiative that was born in Milwaukee: tap into a global growth sector for technologies that clean, conserve, recycle and deliver drinkable water.

For the past two years, Milwaukee has been trying to coax growth and jobs from its concentration of water technology companies and balked when Madison signaled that it would disburse seed money across the entire state, diluting Milwaukee’s efforts.

“We are withdrawing the funding for that position,” Doyle said in a conference call from Tel Aviv, Israel, where he is leading a state trade mission that centers almost exclusively on water technology.

The UW System pays half of the salary for Jeff Smoller, who is on leave from the state Department of Natural Resources, which pays the other half. Following Doyle’s conference call, a DNR spokeswoman confirmed that the DNR withdrew Smoller’s salary. He will return to DNR, which will create a new job for him.

UW–Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos Santiago, a board member of the Milwaukee Water Council, wants to expand his school’s freshwater research program in order to train hydrologists and water engineers for Milwaukee-area water technology companies while carrying out research that supports local industry and keeps jobs in the region. UWM said it wants to emulate with water technology what Madison and its flagship university did with biotechnology.

But compared to UW–Madison, the state’s flagship research university, UW-Milwaukee has long seen itself as an underdog that has needed to fight for every dollar it receives.

Santiago is traveling with Doyle in Israel.

A spokesman for the UW System did not return phone calls on the matter this week.

Doyle on Tuesday also gave a speech to the 5th International Water Technologies trade fair in Tel Aviv. He is traveling with a delegation of Wisconsin business, civic and academic officials. And he held an hourlong meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Separately Tuesday, Doyle signed a bilateral trade agreement between Israel and Wisconsin on research and development with a strong focus on water technology. The agreement was vague and didn’t cite specific companies or projects.

“This agreement creates an important framework for Israel’s and Wisconsin’s scientists, engineers and researchers to embark on ground-breaking research and development in many promising fields, especially water technology,” Doyle said during a state trade mission to Israel that centers almost exclusively on water technology.

Doyle on Tuesday also gave a speech to the 5th International Water Technologies trade fair in Tel Aviv. He is traveling with a delegation of Wisconsin business, civic and academic officials.

“Israel and Wisconsin have a strong history of working together,” said Israeli Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Ben-Eliezer, who also signed the agreement. “We believe that there is still an outstanding potential to enhance our collaboration.”

An announcement from the governor’s office in Madison offered few specifics of the trade pact. Doyle holds a conference call with reporters later Tuesday.

The agreement commits to investing in partnerships in research and development in Wisconsin and Israel's private businesses. The agreement names several areas for collaboration including:

• Promoting private sector activities to intensify bilateral industrial R&D cooperation.
• Identifying opportunities for partnerships beyond Israel and Wisconsin that could advance their research and development efforts.
• Coordinating government resources to promote R&D opportunities.
• Establishing a framework to financially support joint R&D projects that could lead to commercialization in the global market.