Epic has helped pave the way for a tech boom in the Madison, Wis., area and change the community’s perception as a “boomerang city,” the Badger Herald reported.
Madison’s latest tech company win came when medical equipment manufacturer Accuray relocated its headquarters there, according to the Sept. 27 story. The city also benefits from being home to the University of Wisconsin, giving it a high volume of STEM-related doctoral degree holders, but Epic has helped more people stay in the area. The nation’s largest EHR vendor, headquartered in the Madison suburb of Verona, is the largest private-sector employer in Dane County, where it has 12,800 employees.
“While Madison used to be labeled a ‘boomerang city’ — a place where students come to attend college, before leaving to work somewhere else — Epic’s recruitment efforts have compelled college students to settle here for their early careers,” the newspaper reported.
Epic aggressively recruits the university’s graduates, according to a University Park Research report cited by the news outlet. “Wisconsin in general is hemorrhaging its young people, say, 18 to 40,” the research group’s managing director, Aaron Olver, said in the report. “Except in Dane County, where we have gained something like 10,000 people in that demographic. We’re bucking that trend. It’s not just Epic, but Epic is the prime mover.”
