Milwaukee Tool to build new Wisconsin manufacturing plant
Milwaukee Tool announced plans for a new vertically integrated manufacturing plant in West Bend, Wisconsin.
The facility will manufacture new-to-market hand tools for professional electricians and utility linemen. The facility will be located less than 30 miles from the company's global headquarters in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
“With a focus on core users in the electrical, plumbing, and mechanical trades, our strategy for hand tools from the beginning has been to disrupt the market with superior performance, quality, and user-driven feature sets,” said Tim Albrecht, president of hand tools for Milwaukee Tool. “As we continue with that strategy, we are thrilled to invest in state-of-the-art technology and equipment, and a skilled labor force - right in the heart of Wisconsin - to deliver the next wave of hand tool innovation to the industry.”
With an initial expected investment of almost $26 million, Milwaukee Tool will break ground in April 2020 on the new manufacturing plant, and expects mass production to begin in early 2021.
“We will continue to invest, we will continue to grow, and we will continue to change the game,” said Steve Richman, Group President of Milwaukee Tool. “In 2020 alone, we will invest over $100 million, and create 350 jobs in the United States to diversify our operations and better serve the professional trades.”
Milwaukee Tool currently has manufacturing and distribution operations in Mississippi in Greenwood, Olive Branch and Jackson, and facilities in Wisconsin in Mukwonago and Sun Prairie. In addition to the new West Bend hand tool manufacturing plant, in 2020 the tool maker plans to expand power tool manufacturing and assembly operations in Cookeville, Tennessee, and accessories manufacturing in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, plus build a new 766,000 square foot distribution facility in Olive Branch, Mississippi.
The company has grown from 190,000 square feet and 300 jobs in Brookfield in 2011, to 390,000 square feet and over 1,400 jobs this year. "With an additional 329,500 square feet of space slated to open in 2020, and a recent announcement of 65 acres of land purchased in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, Milwaukee Tool is positioned to stay in the heart of Wisconsin long term," according to a company press release.
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