Talking Trade Ep. 83 - Kurt Bauer, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce

Talking Trade

In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce President and CEO Kurt Bauer discusses export challenges for companies in the state and how they’re addressing them.

“We are still seeing a hangover effect from COVID, supply chains for some are still tangled,” he said. “But most have solved that problem. Most of our members are telling us that they have resolved supply chain challenges. Inflation, however, I still blame on COVID.”

He tied ongoing inflation to the “trillions in government stimulus that was pumped into the economy,” adding it remains a major issue for businesses.

Bauer also weighs in on demographic trends driving workforce shortages, noting WMC is increasingly hearing that companies are expanding outside of Wisconsin rather than within, “because they need a long-term pipeline of workers” that the state can’t supply.

The interview also covers tariffs and global shipping lane disruptions linked to conflicts in the Middle East as well as geopolitical instability linked to the war between Russia and Ukraine and tensions between China and Taiwan.

Talking Trade is hosted by E.M Wasylik Associates Managing Director Ken Wasylik and M.E. Dey & Co. President and Managing Director Sandi Siegel.