Mayor's Statement re: Famous Footwear

Madison - Mayor Dave Cieslewicz made the following statement today regarding the announcement that Brown Shoe is consolidating its Madison-based Famous Footwear subsidiary into its corporate headquarters in St. Louis: "I am very disappointed by this decision. The City of Madison worked closely with the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce and others to develop an attractive package of incentives for Brown Shoe. I personally traveled to St. Louis to make the case for Madison, and City staff and I were in frequent communication with the company. "Despite this decision by Brown Shoe, Madison's economy remains very strong. Our 3.5% unemployment rate is the lowest of any city in Wisconsin and one of the lowest in the nation. But today's news reminds us that if we want our economy to remain strong, we need to aggressively implement our new economic development plan and other initiatives."