Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 238 - Wisconsin economic development corporation.
238.03 - Duties of board.

238.03 Duties of board.
(1) The board shall develop and implement economic programs to provide business support and expertise and financial assistance to companies that are investing and creating jobs in Wisconsin and to support new business start-ups and business expansion and growth in Wisconsin. The board may also develop and implement any other programs related to economic development in Wisconsin.
(2) For each program developed and implemented by the board, the board shall do all of the following:
(a) Establish clear and measurable goals for the program that are tied to statutory or programmatic policy objectives.
(b) Establish at least one quantifiable benchmark for each program goal described in par. (a).
(c) Require that each recipient of a grant, loan award, or tax credit under the program submit a report to the corporation. Each contract with a recipient of a grant, loan award, or tax credit under the program must specify the frequency and format of the report to be submitted to the corporation and the performance measures to be included in the report. Each recipient shall submit a statement to the corporation signed by the recipient or the director or principal officer of the recipient attesting to the accuracy and truthfulness of the information.
(d) Establish a method for evaluating the projected results of the program with actual outcomes as determined by evaluating the information described in pars. (a) and (b).
(e) Annually and independently verify, from a sample of grants, loan awards, and tax credits, the accuracy of the information required to be reported under par. (c).
(3) The board shall require for each program developed and implemented by the board all of the following:
(a) That each recipient of a grant or loan under the program of at least $100,000 submit to the corporation, within 120 days after the end of the recipient's fiscal year in which any grant or loan funds were expended, a schedule of expenditures of the grant or loan funds, including expenditures of any matching cash or in-kind match, signed by the director or principal officer of the recipient to attest to the accuracy of the schedule of expenditures. The recipient shall engage an independent certified public accountant to perform procedures, approved by the corporation and consistent with applicable professional standards of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, to determine whether the grant or loan funds and any matching cash or in-kind match were expended in accordance with the grant or loan contract. The board shall also require the recipient of such a grant or loan to make available for inspection the documents supporting the schedule of expenditures. The board shall include the requirements under this paragraph in the contract with grant or loan recipients.
(b) That the board, if a recipient of a grant or loan under the program submits false or misleading information to the corporation or fails to comply with the terms of a contract entered into with the corporation, without providing satisfactory explanation for the noncompliance, do all of the following:
1. Recoup payments made to the recipient.
2. Withhold future payments to be made to the recipient.
3. Impose a financial penalty on the recipient.
(4)
(a) In this subsection, “unassigned balance" means all moneys held by the corporation that the corporation is not obligated by law or by contract to expend for a particular purpose or that the corporation has not otherwise assigned to be expended for a particular purpose.
(b) The board shall establish policies and procedures for maintaining and expending any unassigned balance that satisfy all of the following requirements:
1. The policies and procedures shall be consistent with best practices recommended by the Government Finance Officers Association.
2. The policies and procedures shall establish as a target that the corporation's unassigned balance on June 30 of each fiscal year be an amount equal to or less than one-sixth of the corporation's total administrative expenditures for that fiscal year.
(5) The board shall hire a full-time employee who shall be known as the electronics manufacturing small business development director. The director's duties shall include coordinating with the economic development liaison in the department of administration and providing outreach to local economic development organizations. This subsection has no effect after December 31, 2022.
History: 2011 a. 7; 2013 a. 20; 2015 a. 55; 2017 a. 58, 369.

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