Category Archives: Local Business

by | November 26, 2010 · 12:20 am

A Black Friday Alternative: Shop South Milwaukee

Here’s a big idea for Black Friday: Before you visit the Targets, Kmarts, Kohls and Walmarts of the world on Friday, why not shop some of our first-class local merchants?

Here are some of my favorites, and some great gift ideas:

  • Studio One Art Glass. This is truly a hidden gem in South Milwaukee. Located at 1333 Milwaukee Ave., this unique store features some of the most beautiful hand-crafted stained glass you’ll find, with most made by Kim Kostuch and his team right in the building. I love the window hangings — I buy one for my wife every Christmas — but you can also custom order bigger ticket items like cabinets. Learn more at the Studio One website.
  • Donn Powers Jeweler. Locally owned jewelry stores are getting harder and harder to find, and we have a great one right here at 2110 10th Ave. in South Milwaukee. I was really impressed with the number of affordable gift items at Donn Powers when I did some Christmas shopping there last year. Learn more at the store’s website.
  • Parkway Floral. At the corner of Chicago and Milwaukee Avenues, this really is our downtown’s centerpiece business, and Bryan Lorentzen runs a great flower shop. Give the gift of flowers this holiday season! Learn more at the Parkway website.
  • Azteca. Of all the great restaurants we have in South Milwaukee, this is my favorite. The Mexican food is authentic and affordable, and the service is outstanding. If you haven’t eaten at Azteca yet, do so in December, and pick up a gift certificate for a holiday gift. Learn more here.

And, here’s another local shopping suggestion: Shop the South Milwaukee Christmas Market on Saturday, Dec. 4, at Bucyrus International’s Heritage Building. Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be more than 40 vendors at the event, with plenty of unique gift opportunities … stuff you can’t find at Best Buy. That includes, for the first time, $2 South Milwaukee Downtown Market cloth gift bags.

Learn more about the Christmas Market here.

Did I miss a local business you’d like to suggest to holiday shoppers? Post your comments below.

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by | November 18, 2010 · 12:05 am

More on the Ladish Deal: What Does it Mean for the South Shore?

It sounds like only good news for the South Shore, and Cudahy, resulting from the purchase of Ladish by its largest raw materials supplier, Allegheny Technologies of Pittsburgh.

Here is the Journal Sentinel story on the transaction. From it:

Company executives say they have no plans to reduce employment at the Ladish headquarters and plant in Cudahy. The 105-year-old company has 1,700 employees at operations in Wisconsin, California, Oregon and Poland.

“This is about growth. It is not about consolidation,” said Gary Vroman, Ladish president and chief executive officer.

“This is not putting any blue-collar or white-collar people at risk,” Vroman said. “I want to stay. I look forward to this, and I am sure that we will work things out.” …

The deal is the second blockbuster sale of a Milwaukee-area manufacturer this week. On Monday, Bucyrus International Inc. of South Milwaukee said it was being acquired by Caterpillar Inc. for $7.6 billion.

Ladish also is a major supplier to Caterpillar, which expects to own Bucyrus in mid-2011.

“Years ago, we did quite a bit of work with Bucyrus. And we certainly are looking forward to having discussions with the Caterpillar and Bucyrus combination to see if it will mean something positive to us,” Vroman said.

Also, click here for a Business Journal story on the purchase. From it:

No layoffs are expected as a result of the deal and Ladish brand will remain intact, Vroman said.

“Without question, this merger significantly improves the long-term outlook for Ladish,” he said.

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by | November 17, 2010 · 11:13 am

Another Major Local Employer Sold: This Time It’s Ladish

Cudahy-based Ladish is being acquired by Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Technologies in a $778 million deal.

Read the Journal Sentinel story here. From it:

Cudahy-based Ladish manufactures metal components for jet engines and aerospace equipment. The company has 1,700 employees and operations in Wisconsin, California, Connecticut, Oregon, and Poland.

In a conference call, Allegheny executives said there are no plans to move manufacturing out of Wisconsin.

We’ll see. Post your comments below.

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by | November 15, 2010 · 9:04 pm

Good News for South Milwaukee on Bucyrus Deal

Little if any local job loss, at least for now. A continued strong commitment to local manufacturing. The establishment of Oak Creek as a “nerve center” for a global mining business.

Heck, South Milwaukee can even say we’re still home to “Bucyrus.”

In other words, the potential fallout from Monday’s announcement regarding the sale of Bucyrus International to Caterpillar isn’t as damaging as it could be.

The Business Journal of Milwaukee has some new details gathered at an afternoon press conference at the South Milwaukee company.

See the full story here. From it:

Caterpillar Inc.’s acquisition of Bucyrus International Inc. isn’t likely to lead to immediate job cuts in the Milwaukee area.

In fact, Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar has vowed to create a global mining headquarters in Oak Creek at the site of the former Midwest Airlines corporate offices on South Howell Avenue.

Bucyrus currently has about 1,600 employees in the Milwaukee area, including about 880 hourly production workers, Sullivan said. The sale to Caterpillar doesn’t alter Bucyrus’ plans to add as many as 515 jobs, evenly split between administrative and production personnel, in the Milwaukee area in the immediate future, said Sullivan, who will leave the company after the deal closes.

“The great situation that we’re in today is that we’re in a booming market,” he said. “When two companies like this get together, you’re usually talking about cost synergies. We’re talking about expanding. My hope is that this is just the start and that we can continue to grow employment in the Milwaukee area.”

Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman also said he sees growth for Caterpillar’s mining operations, but added that it’s unlikely any Caterpillar manufacturing jobs would be shifted to South Milwaukee.  And he wouldn’t completely rule out job losses: “I can’t say with certainty about anything with the state of the economy today, but we are very optimistic with where we see growth and what we see happening in the mining industry.”

Here is a story with additional local reaction from the Daily Reporter.

I’ll keep you posted on this story as it develops. And feel free to post your comments below. I’m interested to know what you think about this.

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by | November 15, 2010 · 12:56 pm

Caterpillar CEO: “Caterpillar is Coming to Milwaukee. Bucyrus is Not Leaving”

In an interview with CNBC this morning, Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman — thanks in large part to U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan — shed some light on to what his company’s acquistion of Bucyrus might mean for local operations.

Check out the full interview here. Among the CEO’s comments:

Catperilliar is coming to Milwaukee and Wisconsin. Bucyrus is not leaving. We will be moving a fairly select number of senior level, executive-type jobs to Milwaukee over the next couple of years. We intend to keep the headquarters for our global mining business right there in Milwaukee. We like the facliites, we like the people and we think it will serve us very, very well as we go forward in this business in a  lot bigger way.

He said the future is “very bright” locally. However, when asked if employment would increase locally, Oberhelman said: “I don’t see it decreasing much. It’s hard to say. It’s early.”

Of course, everyone keeps saying “Milwaukee” here. I am assuming they mean “South Milwaukee” and “Oak Creek.” If I suspect otherwise, I will let you know.

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by | November 15, 2010 · 9:55 am

Caterpillar Acquires Bucyrus: What Does That Mean for South Milwaukee?

Caterpillar is acquiring Bucyrus International in a $7.6 billion deal.

Here is the press press release, and check out coverage from Reuters and the Journal Sentinel.

So, what does this mean for South Milwaukee? I wish I knew. I was as surprised as anyone with this announcement. But this quote from Bucyrus CEO Tim Sullivan is telling:

This is an outstanding and financially compelling transaction for our shareholders. More fundamentally, it is a testament to the tremendous value our talented team of employees has created over the past several years and to the strength of our brand in the global mining machinery marketplace. I am confident that we have found an excellent partner in Caterpillar. Caterpillar is a first-rate global company and it shares our commitment to providing innovative products and exceptional service to customers, creating a collaborative and safe work environment for employees and minimizing the impact on the environment.

We are very pleased that Caterpillar has committed to locate its mining business headquarters in Milwaukee and we are confident that the combined global platform will be extremely well positioned to capitalize on the substantial growth opportunities in this market in the years ahead.

Headquarters in Milwaukee? Not sure what that means. Maybe “Milwaukee area”? After all Bucyrus now has operations in South Milwaukee, Oak Creek and Milwaukee after recently acquiring the former Midwest Airlines headquarters building on Howell Avenue.

The Reuters story says: “Caterpillar said it would locate its mining business in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin.”

I tend to believe that South Milwaukee will continue to play a major role here. With the hundreds of millions of dollars Bucyrus recently put into its local manufacturing operations, I can’t envision much of a change there. The South Milwaukee and Oak Creek office complexes are another story, however, and it remains to be seen what amount of change we’ll see there going forward.

After all, how many white collar workers will Bucyrus need now that it’s part of a global behemoth like Caterpillar?

There is an 11 a.m. CT teleconference that I am sure will yield more details on this. I’ll keep you posted.

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by | November 13, 2010 · 11:20 pm

Journal Sentinel Story Offers Some Perspective on Walmart Growth

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has an interesting story providing some good context around Walmart’s expansion in the area — including the store planned for South Milwaukee.

Read the story here. From it:

In recent years, Wal-Mart has opened supercenters in suburbs ringing the city, and it has converted two existing stores in Milwaukee County into supercenters by adding full grocery departments.

Now, the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer is planning to bring its newest generation of grocery and general merchandise stores to locations around the metro area. The company hasn’t announced a number, but a retail industry source estimated there could be eight or nine sites under consideration.

“We’re looking to serve our customers all over the state,” said Wisconsin-based Wal-Mart spokeswoman Lisa Nelson. “There’s plenty of opportunity in Milwaukee.”

Last week, South Milwaukee agreed to sell 3.5 acres of land to Gatlin Development Co., a Tennessee-based developer that is assembling what will be an 11-acre parcel on N. Chicago Ave. Gatlin hopes to build a nearly 120,000-square-foot Wal-Mart store that would sell both groceries and general merchandise. The size is a bit smaller than its typical 140,000-square-foot supercenter and is sized appropriately for the neighborhood, according to Nelson. …

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, faces more challenges entering the area than the Wisconsin-based supermarkets. When Wal-Mart tried in 2008 to build a store in Cudahy, for example, officials refused to approve the plan, hoping to get something better. News of Wal-Mart’s suburban plans posted on the JSOnline website last week brought dozens of negative responses from people who identified themselves as living in the communities, but also drew favorable comments.

Wal-Mart spokesmen cite new jobs and low prices as reasons that communities should welcome them.

Danielle Devlin, executive director of South Milwaukee’s Community Development Authority, agrees.

“Wal-Mart has a community giving program,” Devlin notes. “We have a tradition of our corporations being involved, but Bucyrus is pulling back from that. In terms of an economic impact, it will be significant.”

And not only that, Devlin notes: “Residents will be able to buy a pair of socks in their own community.”

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by | November 9, 2010 · 9:49 pm

Walmart Has Eyes on South Milwaukee

Update: Here is the Journal Sentinel story on this. And be sure to vote in the p0ll on the right-hand side of the page.

Walmart wants to come to South Milwaukee.

The world’s largest retailer is proposing to build a store on a 10-acre parcel at 222 N. Chicago Ave. — a more than $13 million project that would provide another local shopping option and potentially more than 120 jobs to area residents.

This would not be your typical Walmart — and not a SuperCenter.

At 115,000 square feet, it will be one of the first in the area to be built using the company’s smaller, neighborhood-focused retail concept, a more upscale version of your traditional Walmart featuring groceries, a pharmacy and general merchandise.

The store would be “tailored to the character of the neighborhood,” according to Gatlin Development, the project developer, and it will serve an approximately two-mile radius, rather than the chain’s typical 10-mile area. The development would also include an outlot to potentially be used for development of a national chain restaurant.

The South Milwaukee store would create approximately 120 jobs, about 60 percent full-time, according to Gatlin.

The store is part of Walmart’s aggressive growth in the region, which also apparently includes plans for a smaller grocery store on 76th Street in Greendale and the recent remodeling of the store on South 27th Street in Franklin, among others.

Of course, more details will emerge in the months ahead.

Tuesday night, the project got a boost when the City Council approved the sale of a 3.6-acre parcel of land between Davis and Carroll Avenues — part of our Tax Incremental Financing District #2 — for $500,000 to Gatlin, which also has under contract the other 6.5 adjacent acres being used for the project.

(Full disclosure: I was not at the meeting because I was out of town on business involving my day job at MillerCoors. I expect I would have voted yes.)

I am interested to know what you think about the project. The proposed development will be subject to public hearings and approvals before several city entities, including the Plan Commission, Community Development Authority and City Council, so there is plenty of time to have your voices be heard on this. I’ll keep you posted when those opportunities occur.

Of course, you can call me anytime, or post your comments below. I’ve also posted a poll question about this on the right-hand side of the page. I appreciate your feeback.

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by | November 1, 2010 · 11:45 am

Toppers Pizza Eyes South Milwaukee

A cool, and growing, pizza delivery chain that targets the 18-34 demographic is coming to South Milwaukee.

Toppers Pizza, a 28- restaurant chain based in Whitewater, is opening at a South Milwaukee location to be determined next spring or summer. It will be run by Dave Gilewski, who opened his first Toppers franchise in Franklin in 2008.

Read the press release here. From it:

“We get a ridiculous number of phone calls from South Milwaukee wanting Toppers to deliver out to them,” said Gilewski. “That’s when the idea sparked and it all just went from there. … Toppers is already part of the South Milwaukee culture; we just aren’t physically there yet.”

Here is a story from The Business Journal with more details on a larger expansion plan.

I’ll keep you posted when I learn more.

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by | October 26, 2010 · 1:19 pm

State Tax Credits for Bucyrus’ Expansion into Oak Creek

Gov. Jim announced on Tuesday $20 million in assistance for Bucyrus International to aid in its expansion into the former Midwest Airlines headquarters building in Oak Creek.

Read the Journal Sentinel story here. Read the press release here. From it:

Bucyrus is investing $44 million for the project, including $5 million for worker training and $39 million in capital investment to rehabilitate the former Midwest Airlines headquarters in Oak Creek. Bucyrus is known for producing high-quality mining equipment for companies around the world and has grown to 10,000 employees in nearly 100 worldwide locations.

As I’ve blogged about before, I am happy about Bucyrus’ continued growth, and what that will mean for South Milwaukee. The company has been a wonderful corporate citizen over the years, and I’m excited about what the future will hold locally.

At the same time, I’m disapointed that the company’s official headquarters designation is expected to be “Oak Creek” at some point. I wish we could have had a chance as a city to truly dig into what expansion opportunities were available on or near its existing campus in South Milwaukee.

To me, that name on the press release means a lot. It’s a pride thing.

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