UPDATE: Didier Takes New Job with Milwaukee County

Wauwatosa Mayor Jill Didier was named Thursday to fill a newly created position of economic development coordinator for Milwaukee County.

Didier was introduced by Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele at an afternoon press conference downtown. She will start her new job on Dec. 15, but did not say when she would be stepping down as mayor.

The position was created as part of a restructuring under Abele’s 2012 budget that makes the economic development department a division under the department of administrative services, said Brian Taffora, the county’s economic development director appointed by Abele in June.

In an interview before the announcement, Taffora told Wauwaotsa Patch the job was posted about a month ago, attracting 32 qualified candidates, all of whom were local and two of whom were brought in for interviews. At Thursday's press conference, Abele said Didier was considered a finalist for the post as soon as she applied.

The salary for the position already exists within the county’s current and 2012 budgets, but the vacant post was reclassified from economic development specialist to coordinator to add more duties and responsibilities to the job, Taffora said. The salary range for the civil service position, he said, is $62,508 to $72,434.

The economic development coordinator’s primary role will be to work with the 19 Milwaukee County municipalities to develop networks and coordinate local economic development initiatives that benefit the entire county and region, Taffora said.

“I want to make sure that our department is talking to all our municipalities at least a couple of times a month,” Taffora said.

He said the three-person panel that hired the new economic development coordinator went with someone “who understood economic development and how municipalities and government work, someone with experience with business development and developers and land parcels and marketing and communication skills.”

The county was looking for someone who “has expertise in economic development and talking to different businesses and connecting the dots.”

As Wauwatosa mayor, Didier has been involved with all those facets of economic development. Didier has served as mayor during a time when major economic development deals came together, such as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s . The UWM Real Estate Foundation purchased 89 acres of county land on the County Grounds just east of Highway 45 and north of Watertown Plank Road, and construction of the first phase of that development -- a $5.5 million business incubator facility -- has begun. 

Didier is in her first term as Tosa mayor, and has not announced plans to seek re-election in April. Sources with Tosa say Didier has made no secret about her desire to find a new job in recent months, an effort that sources say she stepped up since Gov. Scott Walker took office in January and looked to Madison for possible opportunities within the Walker administration.

Didier also has been vocal about the fact that the Tosa mayor job requires a full-time commitment while paying a meager wage of $22,500 a year. -- of up to $30,000 -- has been discussed for more than two years and now is back on the table.

Taffora noted that Wauwatosa is a “perfect example of what is going on and what we can do” to forge relationships with muncipal governments and bring a diverse mix of businesses, government and economic development tools and organizations together.

The county first focused on establishing a strong connection with its largest municipality, the city of Milwaukee, with Taffora setting up office space within the Milwaukee’s Department of City Development. The new economic development coordinator will partner with Taffora at his county office to build relationships with the county’s other 18 municipalities.

“We are getting developers and businesses calling all the time … looking to expand, to locate in Milwaukee County,” Taffora said.

He said the county economic development department’s key role is to serve “as a kind of sales department. …. We just need to get the right people in the room to talk about” economic development.

Taffora said his and Didier's job will be “to get out there and talk to everyone” to link municipalities, entrepreneurs and new and existing business with the tools and resources that can help spur economic development.

Taffora said those tools exist within the county, through a mix of organizations such as the Milwaukee 7, which takes a regional economic development approach in marketing the seven-county southeastern Wisconsin region; the Milwaukee Economic Development Corporation, which provides low-interest business loans; and the city’s Redevelopment Authority.

“We don’t feel (the county’s economic development department) really needs to create the tools” required to assist businesses and spawn economic development, Taffora said. “We have the tools, but we do need to aggressively create a network so those who want to come here or stay here know that those tools are there for them.” 

Taffora cited a recent Public Policy Forum report, that noted that “Milwaukee is a great place to do business, but needs synergy to bring all the economic development groups together. We want to be the person to connect all the people … to see what we can do to help them.”

Taffora said he has been a “one-man team” since his appointment in June, and is pleased the Milwaukee County Board supported the renewed economic development focus and restructuring under Abele’s 2012 budget. The restructuring moves economic development from public works and puts those existing resources in the county executive’s office. In building a budget while facing a $55 million deficit, Taffora said, there was no room to add positions, but there was an opportunity to reclassify an existing position to create the economic development coordinator role.

“One of the top three initiatives when Chris Abele was sworn in was economic development,” Taffora said. “That was important to him … so when he nominated me, he pulled me out of (the public works office) and put me right next to him and we talk about it a couple of times a day.”