We applaud initiatives seeking to rectify the disparity between skills and needs of employees and employers, respectively.,”

In his State of the City address Monday, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett emphasized the need for workforce development.

We applaud development initiatives. However, newly proposed plans shouldn't undermine already developing efforts.

Barrett announced the creation of the mayor's Office of Workforce Development and his request to Gov. Jim Doyle to be named the "Chief Elected Official in charge of workforce development," according to Eileen Force, communications director for the Office of the Mayor.

The reason? "Leadership. Plain and simple," Barrett said in the speech. The shift would put responsibility and accountability in the mayor's office for connecting more workers to jobs, Force said. That's nice, but won't necessarily attract business.

The leadership designation currently belongs to the county and we already have the Milwaukee 7, an economic development coalition of the seven area counties. Barrett was a founding member of the Regional Workforce Alliance, a component of the Milwaukee 7.

The mayor will continue his regional outreach, Force said. In fact, he signed a campaign overview of the Milwaukee 7 addressed to community stakeholders that said, "Now is the time to think and act as a region" and that companies, talent and investment migrate to regions that "think and act as cohesive, strong regions."

So one would assume that any shift in leadership in workforce development to the city would be discussed at least with the Milwaukee County Executive, Scott Walker. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case, according to Rod McWilliams, director of communications for the Office of the County Executive, who said economic development should be approached as a region.

We agree. By pooling our resources, southeastern Wisconsin can better compete with other metropolitan regions rather than simply competing within the surrounding regions.

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