The daughter of working-class immigrants, long a “hockey mom” who spent years and years finishing a college degree as a part-time student, Mary Perry knew she was starting late and would be climbing a long, steep ladder in the professional world.
Climb she did, from a low-level bureaucratic position with the state, off to a stint working for private non-profits, then back to the state and up a couple more rungs. With hard work along each step, she learned more, drew on past experience and earned trust.
Now, Perry is the go-to person for large economic development and job creation needs in Southeast Wisconsin.
A 10-year resident of Wauwatosa, Perry is the regional account manager for economic and community development with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC). Her beat is the seven-county area – Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha – that makes up what many call the economic engine of Wisconsin.
Until July 1, Perry had held a series of positions, for just the past couple of years similar to what she’s doing now, with the state Department of Commerce. That’s when Commerce was broken up and disbanded, its pieces parceled out to different entities.
WEDC, a public-private corporation, was created by legislative act to take on the economic and community development roles Commerce had held. But it was not to be simply a transfer of personnel and duties under a new name – it was a tearing down and starting over.
Perry had to, in effect, reapply for the job, and won it, as did quite a few, but by no means all, of the former Commerce staff. Those who made the grade were those who demonstrated that they were eager to shed any “old guard” bureaucratic mentality that might linger.
“We are more agile, more flexible,” Perry said of WEDC. “At Commerce, we had very defined programs, and you had to fit in to one of those programs.
“Suppose you wanted to expand your business and create new jobs – which is what we want. This is the program that seems to fit best, whether that’s, say, non-refundable tax credits, or a low-interest loan.
“You fit this, this and this criteria, but you don’t fit with No. 4.
“Sorry, you don’t qualify. You’re not eligible.”
WEDC has its own long list of programs, some new, some holdovers, but it has fewer stringent rules and, in fact, a mission to customize its services – to break molds where necessary to help ambitious companies succeed when and where they want and need to.
Fi-Med, a Wauwatosa-based company with offices in Richmond, VA, and Orange, CA, had a hot new product in its field, the complex world of medical billing systems.
With about 38 employees at its Wauwatosa headquarters, Fi-Med needed to expand, and not by just a little. The company wanted to add 145 new jobs, soon, but lacked operating capital.
“Bank lending is very tight,” said Fi-Med co-owner Christine Krause. “We couldn’t do it without the help of WEDC.”
Perry went to bat for the company and arranged a $750,000 low-interest loan from the state that no bank was willing to give.
“You have a very tough time persuading any bank to make a loan for operating funds,” Perry said. “And you’ve got something new that you need to act on fast and big, before someone else steps in front of you.
“We wanted Fi-Med to stay out front, and we wanted those jobs here.”
Perry worked closely with Krause and especially her business partner, Adrian Velasquez, to set up the loan while Fi-Med moved forward with its launch. They looked into other WEDC programs as well, such as refundable and non-refundable tax credits. But despite some risk, the quick cash infusion of a direct loan seemed to be the answer for Fi-Med.
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