Here & Now

WEDC Audit Shows Mixed Results

Frederica Freyberg:

Also this week, another rough audit for the state’s flagship agency in charge of job creation. The Legislative Audit Bureau reported that in the last six months of 2016 the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, or the WEDC, did improve its grant and loan contracts by including provisions requiring repayment of loans, but did not require recipients to detail whether jobs were created or retained. The audit also showed the amount of loans made to businesses that may go uncollected went from $1.3 million at the end of 2014 to $11 million by the end of last year. Saying operations had improved, the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee last week lifted a ban and acted in the last state budget that prohibited WEDC from issuing new loans because of the agency’s problems. The JFC did not revisit that decision in light of this week’s audit.