Bay View Business Association update

Recently the Bay View Business Association met for the fifth month in a row. Jason Wedesky, owner of Actaea Works is the president; Ed Senger, director of store operations for Outpost Natural Foods Cooperative, is the vice-president; Mike Krolick, branch manager of M&I Bank, is the treasurer; and Tim Dertz, a local developer, is the secretary.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 6pm in the Front Room Photography Studio, 2637 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. Given that the momentum is growing we are now in the process of setting up our webpage for the association. At the next meeting the owner of Front Room has agreed to take headshots of business members for our webpage.

Our meetings provide a forum for business owners to express their needs and concerns. We then tie agenda items to those needs and concerns. For example, a business owner recently was able to take advantage of thousands of dollars of wage tax credits that he would not have been aware of otherwise.

Anyone interested in getting more information can contact Jason Wedesky at wedesky@gmail.com.

Sweat-Free Initiative update

Recently I was successful in getting legislation approved that allowed Milwaukee to join the sweat-free consortium. This move helps ensure that companies who bid on city contracts do not use sweatshop labor. That is, a number of companies have been found to use sweatshop labor in violation of the contract with the city and by joining a consortium it is easier to identify the companies that are falsifying their affidavits.

Why is this important? Many of the jobs that are leaving for overseas are doing so because they can exploit workers for economic gain. Milwaukee is a leader in trying to level the playing field for American manufacturers by requiring certain wage levels for companies that get their contracts. If enough governmental entities were to pass similar legislation we could keep more jobs in America.

Tony Zielinski is the city of Milwaukee’s alderman for the 14th District, which includes Bay View. He can be reached at tzieli@milwaukee.gov or (414) 286-3769.