Madison – Today State Senator Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) blasted the Department of Transportation’s decision to outsource Milwaukee jobs to Georgia to make the blue highway signs that direct motorists to gas stations and restaurants.
In December, the Department of Transportation decided to give the contract to run the sign program to Interstate Logos, a Georgia-based subsidiary of billboard giant Lamar Advertising Co. For nearly 30 years, the work has been done by a Milwaukee company, Derse-Wisconsin Highway Business Signs, located in the Menomonee Valley.
“Once again, the administration is being penny wise and pound foolish. The DOT argues that it will save the state a little money, but at what cost? The DOT’s decision will hike costs for businesses across the state as well as cause the loss of good Milwaukee jobs. This reminds me of the decision to give a California company the business of making our driver’s licenses in order to ‘save’ - in the short run - the cost of updating Wisconsin’s machines that make the driver’s licenses,” said Carpenter.
