As technology becomes more ubiquitous in our lives, the companies behind these innovations are growing increasingly paramount to the economy. The technology industry accounted for 7.1% of overall GDP and employed 6.7 million people in the U.S. in 2015 according to data by CompTIA, a nonprofit technology trade association. Forty-six states saw an increase in tech industry jobs during this time. While these numbers show the industry’s growth on a national level, some recently released statistics are not as optimistic for Milwaukee.
For the third straight year, the Milwaukee metro area (which includes Waukesha and West Allis) ranked 39th—tied for last place with Pittsburgh—in the Kauffman Foundation’s annual startup activity rankings. These numbers have caused alarm among the local startup community.
“It should be a serious wake up call,” said Matt Cordio, founder of both Skills Pipeline, a recruiting company geared to the tech industry, and Startup Milwaukee, a nonprofit organization that provides resources to local tech entrepreneurs. “It’s data, and anytime data doesn’t rank you in the top 10, there’s room for improvement. We’re not in the top 10, and that should concern people.” Read the full story here.
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