Did a few interviews with the Wisconsin press this morning, in preparation for a speech at the end of the month to the Wisconsin Innovation Network. We immediately fell into conversation about Madison’s new biotech stars, Harley-Davidson, Johnson Controls, and the like. It was easy conversation—conversation that I can conduct while typing this Blogpost. Then I caught myself, and said, “But let’s not forget the ‘other 85 percent,’ the largely ignored and under-reported ones working at body shops, spas, independent insurance agencies, 5-person accountancies, real estate brokerages, and the like. The productivity and excellence of these thousands of unsung players and their small passels of employees have more to do with the health and wealth of America and Wisconsin than, with all due respect, Harley.”
It’s a fact.