“We are investing in neighborhoods, which I think is connected,” Evers said. Expanding Medicaid through federal funding also will help, he said.

Toni Sikes, 2014-2018 chair of the Tech Council and CEO of CODAworx, a network for commissioned artwork, told Evers that Wisconsin has robust networks of small, individual investors but is “sadly behind” in providing larger investments to help young entrepreneurs take their companies beyond the startup stage. She asked him to encourage insurance companies and large corporations to invest.

Sikes said later that former Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, convened such companies at the governor’s mansion early in his first term. “He accomplished so much just by bringing people together and explicitly saying, ‘Invest in these funds,’” Sikes said.

Sikes also said she was pleased to hear Evers consider the concept of economic development in a broader sense. “There’s a much bigger world view to think of beyond just the number of jobs,” she said.