When I started working in state government in January 1987 I was surprised that the downtown lost its energy and became a ghost town at the end of the work day. I started listening to the debates among city planners and those who had big ideas for the future of the city. Over and over there was a stated desire for some job-producing business in the downtown. With high-tech jobs at the heart of so much of the dynamic economic growth this nation wants there is no reason for us not to do what is required to now make this proposal with Exact Sciences happen.
If approval comes from the city council a most ambitious investment project of $46 million would signal to others that Madison is able to effectively encourage business development.
I fully understand that there are tough choices and judgment calls to be made with this proposal. There are items that I would shape differently but I also would compromise in the needed ways to make sure the end result allowed for this investment to move forward. We must not lose sight of what we want our city to look like and become as we move forward. If we only listened to the ones opposed to everything we would still be mired down over how to proceed with Monona Terrace.
While there are many components to the deal one part stands out as precisely what the downtown needs. Exact Sciences, creator of Cologuard, the first and only FDA approved noninvasive DNA screening test for colorectal cancer, would be able to construct a building. There has been a guarantee of 400 jobs with high incomes and assurances that financial penalties will be applied if agreements are not met.
This is exactly the type of jobs and incomes that we should work to encourage. Any city that is vibrant needs to have a robust downtown.
The only question that remains is whether Madison has the ability to still make big things happen that can shape and transform our city?