Premium paper packaging company GZ PrintPak will spend $7.1 million to expand production capacity at its recently opened Mount Pleasant manufacturing site to manufacture luxury paper bags, according to a Thursday announcement from the company and...


Premium paper packaging company GZ PrintPak will spend $7.1 million to expand production capacity at its recently opened Mount Pleasant manufacturing site to manufacture luxury paper bags, according to a Thursday announcement from the company and...

On September 18, 2025, Concept Labs hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the official opening of its new 196,000 SF facility in the Village of Pleasant Prairie. “Our new facility in Pleasant Prairie represents a key step in our long-term growth strategy...

The Milwaukee 7 Regional Partnership wants to put a greater emphasis on biotech companies and other manufacturers as it develops its next five-year plan. Rebecca Gries, executive director for M7, shared an update on the group’s efforts during this...

Last month, Yaskawa America announced plans to invest $180 million to build a new headquarters campus in the Franklin Business Park. The company, a manufacturer of AC inverter drives and motion control and robotics automation...

It’s been 20 years since Area Development first handed out its inaugural Shovel Awards. In those two decades, we’ve seen seismic shifts in where and how America grows. From the rise of the electric vehicle industry to the return of semiconductor...

Editor's Note: This article was paid for and written by Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and approved by Area Development. Wisconsin is gaining national attention as a dynamic technology hub, attracting global corporations, high-growth startups, and...

Yaskawa America , a manufacturer of AC inverter drives and motion control and robotics automation systems, plans to spend $180 million to build out a new headquarters campus in Franklin. The new headquarters campus will create 700 new jobs once complete, according to...

Norwalk, Connecticut-based Terex Corp. , a global industrial equipment manufacturer, will expand its operations in Pewaukee and eventually create more than 100 new jobs there. The expansion project, which will take place at the Terex facility located at N4...

KENOSHA, Wis. – The state of Wisconsin and city of Kenosha announce the sale of approximately 240 acres of land northwest of Interstate 94 and Highway 142 to Microsoft. The site enhances the state and region’s capacity to support innovation and growth...

Microsoft continues to grow its footprint in southeast Wisconsin with the recent purchase of 240 acres of land in Kenosha which has been earmarked for another data center development. The state of Wisconsin, along with the city of Kenosha, announced the sale of...

Modine Manufacturing Company is opening a new facility in Franklin. Modine, a Racine-based company focused on thermal management technologies for the commercial, industrial and vehicular markets, is leasing a 153,000-square-foot facility at 3303 West Oakwood Road,...

On December 16, 2024, the Village of Pleasant Prairie Plan Commission approved the Preliminary Site and Operational Plans for the proposed expansion of the Eli Lilly and Company facility located at 10300 128th Avenue in the Prairie Highlands Corporate Park. This...

Baseball may be the great American pastime, but the diamond at American Family Field had a true international feel Tuesday morning. M7, MMAC, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and gener8tor hosted dozens of ambassadors from around...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 2, 2024 ...

Just hours after plans were announced for Microsoft to spend $3.3 billion to build an artificial intelligence data center campus in Mount Pleasant, the company’s president talked about the impact the project will have on the state’s...
President Joe Biden to join Microsoft for announcement in Mount Pleasant Editor’s note – May 10, 2024 – This press release was updated to include the full name of National Grid Renewables. Mount Pleasant, WI – May 8, 2024 –...

In a planned succession, MMAC President Dale Kooyenga announced Rebecca Gries will take over as Milwaukee 7’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Attraction and Expansion. She will succeed longtime M7 Senior Vice President and Executive Director...

A strong online presence is imperative for organizations to thrive, and we are proud to showcase the next-generation website for Milwaukee 7 (M7). This economic development organization, a front-runner in business attraction, retention, and expansion across...
The Village of Mount Pleasant, Racine County, Racine County Economic Development Corporation (RCEDC), and Milwaukee 7 (M7) announced today plans for Microsoft to significantly expand its investment in Mount Pleasant. If approved by Village and...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:March 27, 2023Media Contact: James Madlom or Mia Tripi414-390-5500 EITMZone@muellercommunications.com MOUNT PLEASANT, WIS. - The Village of Mount Pleasant, Racine County, Racine County Economic Development Corporation (RCEDC), Wisconsin Economic...

Johnson Controls is once again working with Milwaukee-based Weas Development Company to construct a new building across from its current headquarters campus in the City of Glendale.
As the popular South by Southwest (SXSW) music, arts and technology festival kicks off Friday in Austin, Texas, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson will be there to pitch Milwaukee as an innovative city for businesses and individuals to invest in or as a place to...
Uline Inc., already a likely contender for the region’s largest building occupier with more than 10 million square feet of industrial and office space in Kenosha County, plans to develop four more large distribution centers. Those four buildings would bring...
Fiserv Inc. will collect up to $7 million in state tax credits to move its headquarters from Brookfield to downtown Milwaukee if the company creates more than 257 jobs in the next five years. The company has 658 employees already in Wisconsin, including 504 in its...
Venture capital activity slowed nationwide in 2022 after years of frenzied investments and soaring company valuations, according to a Jan. 12 report from PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association. While that trend also impacted Wisconsin's venture capital...
Genoa City-based Grand Craft Boats, a manufacturer of luxury wooden boats that have been sold to celebrities including Jennifer Lopez and Kid Rock, has already seen growth in its first year since relocating to Wisconsin – and it’s targeting more. Grand...
GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. has completed its spin-off from General Electric Co. and begins its trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market Wednesday. Chicago-based GE HealthCare (Nasdaq: GEHC) will immediately become part of Standard & Poor's index of 500 key...
Real estate tech company Zillow Group Inc. has acquired VRX Media, a real estate marketing company based in Milwaukee. The acquisition, announced Thursday, is meant to strengthen Seattle-based Zillow's real estate software brand ShowingTime+, a platform for agents to...
Stella & Chewy's LLC has struck a deal with San Diego-based Petco Health and Wellness Company Inc. that will put products from the Oak Creek premium pet food company into Petco stores in all 50 states. Petco (Nasdaq: WOOF), which has more than 1,500 pet care...
The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. in Chippewa Falls ranked in USA Today's top 10 brewery tours in America. The brewery, known for the popular Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy beer, ranked No. 8. The ranking highlighted the two options for brewery tours — the Legacy...
Rockwell Automation, which is targeting electric-vehicle manufacturers and suppliers as a growth market, hit a bullseye via a contract for Hyundai Motor Co.’s planned $5.5 billion electric vehicle and battery plant in Georgia. Rockwell Automation chairman and...
Financial technology and payments firm Fiserv Inc. is moving its global headquarters and hundreds of jobs from Brookfield to downtown Milwaukee, the company announced Thursday. The global headquarters project, which will include the addition of 250 jobs over five...
A lease with growing Milwaukee call center marketing firm Atlas MKE helped a riverside Third Ward office building bounce from 30% to 90% occupancy after losing tenants earlier this year. Atlas MKE is taking over 12,200 square feet at 215 N. Water St., refilling its...
MKE Tech Week 2022, organized by the nonprofit Milwaukee membership group the MKE Tech Hub Coalition, included more than 40 events across the city throughout the first week of October. Here are some snapshots of just a few of the events....
From l. to r.: PNC Bank Regional President Chris Hermann (representing M7), Franklin Mayor Steve Olson, Niche Founder Edmund Poku, U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce Marisa Lago, WEDC CEO Missy Hughes, Omanhene Cocoa Founder Steve Wallace On Tuesday, Oct. 4,...
Niche Cocoa Industry Ltd. of Ghana is building its first North American manufacturing facility in Franklin in what is the largest food and beverage investment by an African company in U.S. history. Representatives of Niche Cocoa joined local and federal officials to...
Founded in 1988 in a home garage in Ozaukee County, Matrix Packaging Machinery’s equipment is now used in food distribution across the continent, and it is growing in Grafton to continue manufacturing all of its proprietary machine components in Wisconsin....
A Massachusetts 3D printing company has opened a sales and service office in the Third Ward that is expected to grow to 150 employees in the next three years. Formlabs, launched in 2011, has grown to become the largest maker of benchtop 3D printers. Its...
After its planned flagship plant with 250 jobs in Oak Creek became public, Thrive Foods on Friday received an email from a Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. official saying “we’re honored and happy that we are your state of choice.” That’s...
It’s been almost a decade since The Water Council opened its Global Water Center at 247 Freshwater Way in Milwaukee, a facility dedicated to making the city and region the “Silicon Valley” of freshwater research and technology. While The Water...
Today Milwaukee Tool held a special event with state and local officials to celebrate the grand opening of the company’s newest manufacturing plant in West Bend. Located 20 minutes from Milwaukee Tool’s global R&D headquarters in Brookfield, the...
A delegation of 50 Milwaukeeans cheered the city’s coronation Friday for hosting the 2024 Republican National Convention as the party’s national committee finalized the decision during meetings in downtown Chicago. Republican National Committee chairwoman...
Materion Corp., an advanced materials company in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, is establishing a facility on Milwaukee's northwest side to accelerate the growth of advanced chemicals for the semiconductor and electric vehicle battery markets. The 150,000-square-foot...
Westown, Haymarket and Greenfield were favorites for development among real estate executives at real estate CEO roundtable on Tuesday as they expressed mixed feelings between suburban and downtown investments. Speakers also discussed their reasoning for why...
Department store chain Kohl's Corp. will open its first downtown Milwaukee store in fall of 2023 in the space of former competitor Boston Store. Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) will open a roughly 40,000-square-foot, smaller-format store in the Hub640 building at West Wisconsin...
The Wacker Neuson Group will add 200 employees and invest over $10 million in its Menomonee Falls plant as a result of expanding its business relationship with John Deere for manufacturing excavators. The companies announced their agreement in June but not the details...
With the role of coal diminishing in the world’s energy future, why would Komatsu Mining Corp. — which is historically known for manufacturing coal-mining equipment — invest $285 million in a new plant and offices in Milwaukee? The answer is that the...
Global Schoolwear plans to expand its business distributing Tommy Hilfiger-branded uniforms with a proposed new facility in Oak Creek that would eventually take over operations currently in Illinois. That facility could grow to have about 100 workers during its peak...
Omron Corp. has gifted over $1 million to Marquette University to establish an Omron Advanced Automation Lab in the university’s Opus College of Engineering. The lab will combine innovative industrial automation and robotics technology with supply...
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., working with the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership Network (including WMEP Manufacturing Solutions), is offering the Wisconsin Automation Implementation Grant to help lower the risk of automation technology...
Waukesha-based engineering and manufacturing company Husco has been awarded a $113 million contract with a North American automaker to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. The $113 million will be paid over multiple years with the unnamed company...
Merz North America, Inc., an aesthetics and neurotoxin manufacturer, is expanding its facilities in Sturtevant and Franksville – an $8 million project expected to create 35 jobs over the next three years. “Merz has a global presence in its industry and...
MSN TravelAwait's ranked Milwaukee second on its list of the 12 favorite U.S. cities. Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson shared the list on his Twitter Tuesday.MSN TravelAwaits highlighted several key attractions to Milwaukee including its nickname as "Brew City. "Just...
Manufacturing technology startup PartsBadger LLC landed a five-year contract worth at least $13.8 million with Colorado-based mountain bike maker Yeti Cycles that will create Milwaukee-area jobs and accelerate PartsBadger's need for a larger local facility....

Milwaukee Tool announced today at an event with Gov. Evers and Missy Hughes, Secretary of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., that the company will invest $206 million and create 1,000 new jobs in Wisconsin. Milwaukee Tool continues to experience rapid growth...

Casting Cleaning Resources, an Indiana-based manufacturer that serves the foundry industry, is expanding its operations to Menomonee Falls, state and company officials announced today. Casting Cleaning Resources provides post-mold cleaning of iron castings to...
The African American Leadership Alliance Milwaukee, known as AALAM, has a goal for Milwaukee to become the global destination of choice for Africans Americans by 2025. "We know that Milwaukee has a lot of negative data points and metrics relative to the Black...
The Milwaukee 7 Partnership for Economic Development is seeking to raise $6 million by 2025 to support its economic development efforts in southeastern Wisconsin. The campaign, which is being chaired by WEC Energy Group executive chairman Gale Klappa and Haribo of...
Fans packed American Family Field Thursday to kick off the Milwaukee Brewers home season and the team responded with a 5-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Check out the attached slideshow to see photos from inside and outside the stadium and to see some of the...
Nosco, Inc. is expanding its Pleasant Prairie packaging innovation center and headquarters facility by nearly 100,000 square feet, increasing its size to 271,000 square feet. Nosco, a packaging manufacturer, is a subsidiary of Deerfield, Illinois-based Holden...
Generac Power Systems will break ground in the coming months on a $20 million expansion at its headquarters outside Waukesha that will create a research-and-development lab. The project is one example of the fast-growing company’s ongoing commitment to Wisconsin...
Anyone who has ever typed a text message on an iPhone and seen suggested words or phrases pop up above their phone's keyboard has experienced an everyday example of how artificial intelligence (AI) is being deployed across various applications. Chris Taylor of the...
From data science and artificial intelligence to augmented reality and virtual reality, Milwaukee-area technology leaders shared how they're leveraging emerging technologies during a virtual panel discussion Feb. 18 at United Way of Greater Milwaukee &...
Milwaukee Tool will start a move-in Feb. 28 for its first group of over 400 employees at the company’s new offices in downtown Milwaukee. The process will run until March 14 as employees take their places on the third and fourth floors of the building at 501 W....
Investments in early-stage Wisconsin companies by angel and venture capitalists totaled at least $810.82 million across 111 deals in 2021, a 67% increase from the record set in 2020, according to early data released Monday by the Wisconsin Technology Council. The five...
Gov. Tony Evers today visited the new production facility of Grand Craft Boats, a manufacturer of custom-built mahogany boats in Genoa City. The governor announced last year that Grand Craft Boats would be moving from Holland, Michigan to Genoa City. “Grand...
From City Lights Brewing Co. and Valentine Coffee Co. to Funky Fresh Spring Rolls and Soul Brew Kombucha, the FaBcap Accelerator has helped 50 Wisconsin food and beverage companies find their footing. Now, the state-sponsored accelerator is transforming...
National technology headlines in 2022 will be awash with news about web3, blockchain, crypto and the metaverse, as well as decentralized finance, and autonomous and electric vehicles. Those trends will likely impact the local technology and startup industry, too. But...
Nexus Pharmaceuticals is a 2021 Inc. Best in Business honoree. With the second annual Best in Business awards, Inc. recognizes companies that have had a superlative impact on their industries, their communities, the environment, and society as a whole. Meet...
Ingeteam is celebrating the ten-year anniversary of the completion of its US offices and production plant, located in Milwaukee, WI. Built on a former brownfield in the city’s Menomonee Valley, the LEED Gold certified building was completed in 2011 and has...
All of the Haribo Gold Bear gummis sold in the U.S. are shipped in from eight company factories in six different countries. That changes by the second quarter of 2023, when the German candy maker will bring online its first U.S. manufacturing facility. About 250 to...
Global dairy processor Saputo Inc. plans to build a $60 million cheese production, packaging and distribution facility with around 600 jobs in a new Franklin business park. And those plans are proceeding during a period in which the Canadian company is...
GENOA CITY, Wis. — You might be surprised to learn that on a lonely rural Walworth County road next to a cornfield some of the world's most expensive and luxurious vintage-style boats are being built. These boats range from $250,000 all the way up to $1.5...
Nineteen Milwaukee residents are currently participating in the city's first gener8tor Upskilling cohort, a free program that teaches in-demand digital skills to job seekers. The program, which began late last month, is a partnership between gener8tor Management LLC,...
Waukesha-based energy company Generac said Tuesday that it plans to significantly expand its presence in Wisconsin by adding 700 new jobs and investing $53 million in its operations. Generac's business building power generator equipment for homes and...
The We Energies STEM Center at the Milwaukee School of Engineering celebrated its grand opening on Sept. 22, one year after the nearly $1 million facility opened in September 2020. Located at 1444 N. Water St., the 10,000-square-foot center hosts MSOE's STEM (science,...
A groundbreaking ceremony is tentatively scheduled for mid-October on Port Milwaukee’s largest project in at least six decades — a $35 million agricultural-product export facility on Jones Island. The Milwaukee Common Council on Sept. 1 approved Port...
The City of Milwaukee has assembled its team to chart an equitable future for Downtown. The Department of City Development is partnering with Milwaukee Downtown, Business Improvement District #21 and a team of contractors on the effort, known as “Connec+ing MKE...
After securing money to buy land for their planned $80 million nonprofit sports facility on Milwaukee’s far north side, Damian Buchman and Franklin Cumberbatch are intensifying their fundraising efforts and aim for a 2025 opening for the inclusive center....
Arntzen Corporation, a manufacturer of large-diameter steel piping critical for underground infrastructure, will move its Rockford, IL production facilities to the Village of Sharon in Wisconsin's Walworth County. The company will employ 40 workers at its new...
With preliminary site work underway for the $420 million Wisconsin Center expansion, the groundbreaking ceremony may be held as early as November — about one month earlier than previously announced. Fencing has been erected around the perimeter of the former...
Northwestern Mutual is earmarking $100 million to invest in Black communities on both a national and local level, with the goal of addressing inequality and the racial wealth gap, the Milwaukee-based life insurer and financial services firm said Tuesday. The new...
Businesses and nonprofits considering moving into a vacant Wisconsin commercial space may be eligible for a $10,000 Wisconsin Tomorrow – Main Street Bounceback Grant through a newly created program. “These grants are designed to give entrepreneurs a...
Gov. Tony Evers and U.S. Rep. Brian Steil were among those on hand Friday to celebrate the ribbon-cutting of Nexus Pharmaceuticals’ new manufacturing facility in Pleasant Prairie. Nexus Pharmaceuticals is a woman-owned, privately held pharmaceutical company...
Heartland Produce Co. is being awarded $500,000 in state income tax credits from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. for a $29 million headquarters and distribution facility breaking ground on former Dairyland Greyhound Park land in Kenosha. Wisconsin Gov. Tony...
After an “exhaustive” nationwide search of prospective buildings to host its first major U.S. manufacturing operation, Canada’s Balcan Plastics Inc. chose Pleasant Prairie where it aims to create up to 120 jobs. “Balcan is a long-standing,...
The largest influx ever of jobs to downtown Milwaukee by a suburban firm is on track after the Common Council on Tuesday approved a $20 million city financing plan for Milwaukee Tool's new office. The council voted 15-0 to help Brookfield-based Milwaukee...

A plan to nearly double the size of natural pet food maker Stella & Chewy's Oak Creek headquarters is proceeding — a $67.7 million project expected to create 245 jobs over the next three years. The project is to generate up to $2 million in state income tax...