Watch: The future of employability in Milwaukee

DNC week: On Tuesday August 18, Axios Cities author Kim Hart and politics and White House editor Margaret Talev hosted a conversation on Milwaukee's economic recovery amidst the coronavirus, featuring Rep. Gwen Moore, 5 Lakes Institute Executive Director Kathleen Gallagher and Green Bay Packers CEO Mark Murphy.

Kathleen Gallagher discussed regional economic development around Milwaukee and how to reverse the brain drain from the Midwest to the coasts.

• On how to keep local talent in the Midwest: "A lot of people on the coasts come from the Midwest. We supply a lot of the brains that keep the coast running, and a lot of the materials. So what we need to do is coalesce that more here [in the Midwest] and figure out how have more...disruptive commercialization."

Mark Murphy highlighted the relationship between the Green Bay Packers and their local community and discussed Titletown Tech, a startup incubator partnership between the Packers and Microsoft.

• On how The Packers work to economically support the local community: "[The Packers] don't have a wealthy, deep pocketed owner...the local community owns a team. And so for us, a high priority is, number one, making sure the team stays in Green Bay, but also making sure that Green Bay can support an NFL team."
• On his hopes for the startup world in Green Bay: "Our hope is that we find the next Google...and have a company that really takes off and really helps the local Green Bay.

Rep. Gwen Moore discussed how broadband inequity disproportionately impacts Black and Latinx students and the needed investment in infrastructure to reinvigorate the local economy.

• "The yellow bus of today is broadband and in Wisconsin about 6% of the population does not have broadband, and if you look at the Black community, it's twice that."
• "We can't go back to ignoring our need to rebuild our infrastructure...Some sort of infrastructure program where the jobs can't be shifted overseas is precisely the kind of initiative that would help bail Milwaukeeans out of the economic doldrums that we're experiencing."

Thank you Microsoft for sponsoring this event.