Workforce by the numbers, your comments on our latest, on-air dental discussion Viewpoint Entrepreneurial dough: Just what stagnant Wisconsin kneads to rise up By Patrick McIlheran Did you enjoy home-baked bread at Thanksgiving and think to yourself that you’d have it more often if only baking weren’t so involved? A La Crosse man, Chris Wysong, is hoping to hit it big on such wishes. Thanksgiving is followed, of course, by “black Friday,” retailers’ day to get out of the red. How about keeping the Thanksgiving gratitude going another day, spending a moment Friday to realize that in our land of liberty, there are entrepreneurs trying to get ahead by thinking up new ways to please us, a thing to celebrate in a state that’s only middle-of-the-pack in entrepreneurship. Take Wysong, for example. The Iowa native, 51, settled in Wisconsin after retiring from an Army career. He was doing this and that when, he said, he had a middle-of-the-night dream about making a living from bread. He’d enjoyed baking since childhood — always the guy tapped to make bread for fundraisers. During a deployment to Iraq, the Iraqi army bakers on his base taught him flatbread and, “Next thing you know I’m having lunch with them.” So he wrote down his 3 a.m. dream idea and, when it still made sense the next day, he started Bucket of Bread, his company. He sells flour (certified organic) and all other necessary dry ingredients for bread, premeasured in a bucket (recyclable plastic). You add the specified amount of lukewarm water, stir, leave it for two to three hours, and you have four pounds of dough ready to become bread, rolls, pizza crust, what have you. There’s white, wheat, seven-grain, and no oils, preservatives, dairy or kneading. And, for now, there’s just him — founder, bookkeeper, flour-measurer, sales guy. “I’m a solo entrepreneur who wants to be America’s next favorite brand,” he said. Continue Reading By the Numbers: Black Friday Edition Wisconsin’s manufacturing and retail workforce By Patrick McIlheran & Will Rosignal The percentage of Wisconsin workers who are employed in the manufacturing and retail sectors has been on a steady decline over the past two decades. The figures are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and are calculated as seasonally adjusted annual average levels of employed people in each sector as a percentage of Wisconsin’s seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment. See the Data This is a topic the Badger Institute has addressed in past work. The Institute investigated the shrinking of Milwaukee’s manufacturing sector in 2013: Ryan Berg examined labor force issues as part of a larger paper on Milwaukee’s economic future. In 2019, Richard Esenberg examined the changes in retail in the context of market dynamism. Badger On Air Segment from the Nov. 20 program of WSAU WI Morning News Listen Now In Your Own Words Responses to Patrick McIlheran’s Viewpoint, The poor, powerless casualties of Wisconsin’s school choice lawsuit: “I think it’s time choice schools fight back and start letting the families know that if they don’t stand up for choice they could lose it. This is sickening to me. School choice is the only way kids are going to receive proper education of mind and spirit. We need to get our babies back from failing districts. Save our babies!” — Deborah H. “Almost everyday I walk through the hallways of three inner-city voucher schools. The kiddos are happy, thriving and greatly loved by hard-working and dedicated staff. I cannot fathom anyone not wanting this for these mostly black children, most of whom come from families that fall below the poverty level. My husband and I will vote the direction needed for these three schools and others like them to remain available to any family choosing to try something different for these kiddos.” — Paula Ries   Response to Mike Nichols’ Viewpoint, Dental Therapy: A cure for Wisconsin’s oral care woes: “We don’t need more people paid to drill on teeth to place simple fillings. Fillings are not expensive. Crowns, root canals, dentures and implants are cost prohibitive. Our efforts should be prevention, not more people being paid to start cutting teeth.” — David Clemens Correction: 53% of zip codes in Wisconsin have no dentists licensed in them, according to the Wisconsin Primary Health Care Association. The Nov. 16 Badger Institute Viewpoint — based on testimony provided at a public hearing before the Assembly Committee on Health, Aging and Long-term Care — initially inaccurately stated that over half of counties had no licensed dentists. Source: WPHCA Weekly Survey: Which is your favorite Thanksgiving side dish? Answer below! Stuffing Mashed Potatoes Green Bean Casserole Cranberry Sauce   Previous Poll Results: Invest in the Badger Institute The work of the Badger Institute is funded solely through the generous donations of people like you. Please consider making a gift between now and Giving Tuesday (Nov. 28) to take part in the global giving phenomenon and advance the cause of free markets, opportunity and prosperity right here in Wisconsin. Support Freedom The Institute never has, and never will, accept government funding. We gratefully welcome your online donation or email Angela Smith, Executive Vice President. The Badger Institute is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization funded solely by the generosity of foundations, companies and individuals. 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