Speaking yesterday during a meeting of the board of directors for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes shared details about evolving strategies for fiscal year 2026. She said the agency will be directing resources toward entrepreneurs that aim to grow their business in the state and create jobs.
“We want to focus on those entrepreneurs in the way they need to be focused on,” she said. “At the same time, we want to focus on our traditional businesses … this year, I think for the first time, we’re making a very clear distinction between those two types of businesses.”
Hughes said this new approach will help the agency improve how it communicates with different companies and provide resources that better fit their circumstances.
“Rather than, in the past it’s kind of been like, well everybody’s an entrepreneur, and everybody’s trying to start a business,” she said. “But the truth is, they have very different needs and so we’re going to focus on that as clearly as we can, and it’s a real priority for us this year.”
Meanwhile, WEDC leadership is keeping a close eye on the national landscape amid economic uncertainty and “tariffs back on the table,” Hughes said, pointing to questions about confidence in the U.S. economy.
“We’re trying to determine, you know, what are the best indicators … what can we look at as far as consumer confidence, as far as how retailers or restaurants are doing, so we can see what’s coming towards us,” she said. “And we can, you know, think about what can we do differently and be prepared for that.”
Watch a video of the meeting at WisconsinEye.