Author: Staff

An official City of Milwaukee event in its fifth year, Bronzeville Week has blossomed into a premier celebration of Milwaukee’s rich African American legacy of culture, arts, history and entertainment. The Bronzeville Cultural and Entertainment District is a City of Milwaukee redevelopment initiative inspired by Milwaukee’s original Bronzeville, and it is striving to revitalize the area of Milwaukee where African-American culture has been a mainstay. “Bronzeville Week has become synonymous with arts, culture and commerce and thousands have enjoyed its diverse events and offerings each year,” said Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs. “It has truly become an enjoyable and enriching...

“Business improvement district” is a generic term applied to a type of special assessment district that involves a group of property owners and businesses within a designated area. The members of the district enter into an arrangement whereby they pay an additional tax that is used by the district to pay for mutually beneficial services or improvements. By pooling their resources in this manner, businesses and property owners can supplement the services being provided by their local government to meet their specific needs. This approach is described as “self-help through self-taxation.” A report released August 1 by the Milwaukee-based...

A redevelopment underway in the Sherman Park neighborhood will stand as a model for healing Milwaukee by generating positive economic and social returns in communities of color. The Sherman Phoenix project will create a $2.5 million catalytic development at the eastern entrance to the Sherman Park neighborhood. It will transform the fire-damaged BMO Harris Bank Building located at 3536 W. Fond du Lac Avenue into high-quality commercial space for 12 entrepreneurs of color. The Phoenix also includes a food hall with customer seating, an outdoor patio, and gathering spaces for small community events. The civil unrest in Sherman Park...

A stage director, playwright, theatre educator and performer, Sheri Williams Pannell has been a long-standing member of the Milwaukee theatre community. Two years ago, Bronzeville Arts Ensemble (BAE) and Milwaukee Repertory Theater (The Rep) joined in partnership through which BAE would become a resident theater company of The Rep. This unique pairing was designed to strengthen both companies with the ultimate goal for BAE to have a long-term, sustainable path given the tremendous challenges that face emerging theater companies. “Bronzeville Arts Ensemble is fortunate to have had the opportunity to work in partnership with Milwaukee Repertory Theater over the...

Governor Scott Walker and Foxconn Founder Terry Gou signed a vaguely worded Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the Milwaukee Art Museum on July 27. Both signatories noted the symbolism of the Art Museum’s wings, designed by Santiago Calatrava, had special significance because the project to bring Foxconn to Wisconsin was called “Flying Eagle.” Under Governor Walker’s plan, $3 billion in state tax breaks would be approved in August as an economic incentive package for Foxconn. The Taiwanese company has not specified a location, other than Southeastern Wisconsin, as the site for its new factory. The manufacturing facility is estimated...

The world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics, Foxconn Technology Group, announced on July 26 in Washington DC that it will invest $10 billion by 2020 to build a world-class manufacturing campus in Southeastern Wisconsin. As a global center of manufacturing for decades, Milwaukee saw its industrial base implode as businesses abandoned the city for lower taxes outside of the County and eventually inexpensive labor overseas. News of the Foxconn deal illustrates that, within a generation, the rural Wisconsin labor force is now cheaper than Asia’s. The reality is that the type of technology manufacturing produced by Foxconn has been...