Milwaukee’s manufacturing, technology, healthcare, and brewing industries are alive and thriving, as are its startups, culinary, arts, and hospitality businesses. Companies have come together and reached out to associations, schools, and trade groups to work together and generate new ideas and invest in the people making those ideas come to life. Milwaukee CEOs recognize that good ideas can come from anyone and that Milwaukee’s workforce is what keeps us pushing ahead and leading the way. The startups and the maker culture have come out of the backrooms and into the boardrooms.

One organization, NEWaukee, has made a living as a social architecture group, bringing people together from all walks of life to collaborate, innovate, and share a cold one. Gener8tor is an angel investment group for startups and provides mentors and advisors in addition to cash. The Commons exists solely as an innovation accelerator, connecting emerging entrepreneurs and established businesses together while teaching skills necessary in the current job climate. It’s part of the Greater Milwaukee Committee’s MiKE (Innovation in Milwaukee) initiative.