State Rep. Peter Barca
Press Release

Rep. Barca Statement on Retirement of WEDC CEO Reed Hall

WEDC Needs Major Leadership and Structural Changes

By - Aug 25th, 2015 01:13 pm

MADISON – Today Assembly Democratic Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha), a Democratic representative on the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) Board, released the following statement on WEDC Secretary and CEO Reed Hall’s retirement:

“I appreciate the public service of WEDC Secretary and CEO Reed Hall. Reed Hall stepped in at WEDC on an interim basis and continued to serve throughout a period of tremendous turnover.

“Hopefully with his replacement we can finally realize the promise that was made that WEDC would attract world-class talent from people who have worked and been successful in economic development.

“Unfortunately, Hall’s tenure was marred by management failures and a failure to protect Wisconsin taxpayers, which was in part due to his inexperience in the economic development field.

“I hope that WEDC’s nonchalant attitude toward following the law ends with Reed Hall’s resignation, but our efforts to reform WEDC won’t end there. WEDC needs not only a major leadership change but also significant structural changes to better serve the workers, entrepreneurs and businesses of Wisconsin.”

In June, Rep. Barca and Sen. Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point) called for CEO/Secretary Reed Hall to step down, citing a recent scathing Legislative Audit Bureau report and WEDC’s troubling response to it, Wisconsin’s lagging jobs performance and WEDC’s practice of withholding information and stonewalling board members. A copy of that release is available here.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.

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