Bucyrus International CEO Tim Sullivan had some great news during an earnings call on Friday: The company could bring more than 500 new jobs to the Milwaukee area thanks to the recent acquisition of the underground mining division of Terex Corporation.
And it sounds like most, if not all, of those jobs will be in South Milwaukee.
Don’t forget that several years ago Bucyrus, needing additional space for its welding operations, began leasing more than 300,000 of plant, warehouse and yard space on the near south side of Milwaukee. How many jobs will end up there? We’ll see.
We’re already seeing the 66-acre South Milwaukee complex is the biggest beneficiary of Bucyrus’ hiring. A quick search of the company’s website revealed 93 current domestic job openings … with 61 of those listing the location as South Milwaukee.
As for the new jobs, a story on WISN-TV this evening broke down the 500 new workers this way: 150 engineers, 150 South Milwaukee office personnel and 200 plant workers. Sullivan told WISN: “We’re still one of the fastest-growing companies in the United States, but to create that level of job opportunity here in this particular economy, I think it’s great for the city. It’s great for us.”
Amen to that. What a wonderful company to have based in South Milwaukee.
Learn more about Bucyrus’ plans in the Journal Sentinel story here. Click here for the WISN-TV story.
From the Journal Sentinel story:
In February, Bucyrus acquired the mining division of Terex Corp., based in Westport, Conn.
The acquisition was expected to create between 300 and 500 jobs in Milwaukee, including several hundred manufacturing positions and Terex employees transferred from Connecticut.
The new jobs are expected over the next two to three years.
“I think it’s safe to say those numbers will go up rather than down,” Sullivan said.
The WISN story has the following quote from Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett: “We have worked with Bucyrus to develop worker skills that meet the company’s needs and that has helped set the stage for their expansion. We look forward to working with Bucyrus and other companies to make sure their growth plans include expansion in our region.”
South Milwaukee Blog 
It is a shame that everyone is falling all over themselves whenever Sullivan speaks. One needs to remember his background is Sales. A more balanced approach by our media would include the follow:
1. Recognition that the first 160+ jobs that are “added” are simply replacing those that were lost last year. Those people (especially the office workers) have not been called back.
2. Recognition that todays news is a cover for yesterday’s that said all is not well. A few weeks ago P&H announce good earnings news that BI could not match.
3. According to Sullivan previously, the previous good news from underground came not as a result of sales but by cutting bloated staff and waste after it was purchased. Once that was done, the profits disappeared.
4. Adding staff in 2 years is not the great news that everyone is making it out to be. Most everyone expects a significant upturn in the economy well before then. We need jobs NOW.
5. A “new job” is not a “new job” if it is not filled by locals. When a company is purchased and relocated a sizable portion of the staff (i.e., the experts) are often offered relocation. The above quote even mentions “transferred from Connecticut). Nobody has put Sullivan’s feet to the fire to ask him real new jobs.
6. If there are so many current openings, why aren’t they being filled? How many have been offered to last year’s displaced? It’s not like Wisconsin doesn’t have any skilled people unemployed. If those are actually real jobs and they really can’t be filled, where does BI think they are going to get people for the new jobs after the 2-3 years and the economy picks up?
We need journalists and politicians who will start grilling our local leaders to get firm answers and not rehashed fluff after some bad earnings news. It seems last year’s layoffs and how they were done have been conveniently forgotten.
Good point Dave about the “forgotten” 160 from last year. (Was that the final number?) Now, take a look at today’s Journal Sentinel where it lists executive compensation for last year. Headlines say average CEO pay went DOWN 8%. Table shows Sullivan’s went UP 25% during the year that those layoffs occurred. (Johnson Controls – who just listed some great financial numbers with respect to BI had a 25% drop in executive compensation). It’s funny that the people I know who work there didn’t happen to see raises anywhere close to 25%. They’re just happy they aren’t in the 160 you mentioned. If this were Wall Street, the local papers would be headlined with “executive greed”. Unfortunately, as you mentioned, everyone just rolls over and plays dead when it is Sullivan.