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Over 800,000 rides taken, 90,000 miles covered, 45,000 trips completed. It’s been one year since the Milwaukee Streetcar, known as The Hop began servicing Downtown Milwaukee. What’s next and where is the Hop headed? To reflect on the first year of the Hop and to discuss its future, the MKE Forward team sat down with Ashley Booth of HNTB.   

Milwaukee does not have the population growth of some of its peers, but that does not mean the city is flat or unable to attract talent. On this episode of MKE Forward, Lyle Landowski and Tammy Babisch talk with Meg McKenna of Visit Milwaukee, and her niece Trudy Watt, a recent transplant, on Trudy’s experience visiting Milwaukee and her decision to make Milwaukee home. Meg and Trudy recall the experience, discuss the lessons learned, and reflect on Milwaukee as a city of neighborhoods and, as Trudy describes it, a sane city. Her fresh perspective on our city is one you won’t want to miss. 

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) has been a Milwaukee institution for over 60 years. MKE Forward had the pleasure of sitting down with President and Executive Director, Mark Neihaus.  The excitement that Mark has for the MSO and its future is contagious. From newly appointed Musical Director Ken-David Masur, to construction being underway on the MSO’s future home, there was a lot to talk about. If that wasn’t enough, the passion that the symphony has for being active and a part of our community is apparent. With programming both in Milwaukee’s schools, and bringing the symphony out into the community, the impact of the MSO extends far beyond its last chord.

As companies and organizations look at their workplaces, more and more are looking at their space through a strategic lens, seeking to improve productivity, collaboration and even culture. As a result, the prevalence of open office concepts has increased across the globe. But, do they work? Are open workplaces increasing worker productivity and collaboration? Tune in to hear from Dr. Anthony Pennington-Cross and Andy Hunt from Marquette University’s Center for Real Estate, as they discuss the research and findings of renowned economists from around the world. 

We’ve skimmed the topic, but never jumped in. On the latest episode of MKE Forward, the team sits down with Heather Turner Loth, workspace strategy guru. Heather spends her time helping companies integrate their culture with their physical space. The intersection of these two aspects of an organization is not straight forward and one size does not fit all, or even two.  Listen in as we discuss the impact both culture and space have on the success and future of an organization. 

Ryan Pattee is a Milwaukee-based developer whose approach to development is unique. Instead of solely focusing on ROI (Return on Investment) he places a heavy emphasis on ROC (Return on Community). Ryan aims to create community spaces that are both utilized by the local community and serve as a place for creative uses and tenants. In order to make a project financially feasible, Ryan and his partners get creative, leveraging financing tools used in more traditional development projects. On the latest episode of MKE Forward, the team delves into some of Ryan’s most notable projects and how he, as a community focused developer, aims to better our city. 

As a continuation of Episode 7, where we discussed Milwaukee’s tech environment from the perspective of a start-up, on this episode of MKE Forward, the team welcomed James Hischke, Senior Director of Tech Advancement and Outreach at Northwestern Mutual (NM), to the studio to continue the conversation. James talks about NM’s commitment to grow the tech talent pool for the city and how the company can in turn grow their share of that talent. To NM, it is not just about investing in themselves, but embracing the Milwaukee community, investing in it and believing that they are better off when Milwaukee is thriving.

On the latest episode of MKE Forward, the team welcomes Matt Cordio of Startup Milwaukee and Chris Widmayer, of Milwaukee based technology firm Penrod. Listen in to uncover the opportunity that awaits Milwaukee, from tech talent, to whether or not Milwaukee is a tech city, and how, as a community, we can continue to embrace technology and leverage it to drive our city forward. 

Festival season is finally here and the MKE Forward team celebrated by sitting down with Bob Babisch, Vice President of Entertainment at Milwaukee World Festival. Learn about what it takes to put on Milwaukee's festival of festivals, what is new this year and how bringing people together through music has and will continue to positively impact our city.

Beth Weirick, champion and queen of downtown Milwaukee joins the team to discuss the momentum of downtown. Listen in to hear how downtown is just getting started.