Tag Archives: Caterpillar

March 28, 2011 · 9:51 pm

Caterpillar Inching Toward a New Home?

Update: Well, that was fun while it lasted.

The Business Journal of Milwaukee — and good friend Rich Rovito — has an interesting blog item about the CEO of Caterpillar complaining about the business climate of Illinois.

From the posting:

Various media outlets, including the Pantagraph in Bloomington, Ill., stated that Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman sent a letter to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn informing him that at least four other states have approached the company about relocating.

“I want to stay here. But as the leader of this business, I have to do what’s right for Caterpillar when making decisions about where to invest,” Oberhelman wrote in the letter reportedly obtained by the Lee Enterprises’ Springfield, Ill., bureau.

Wisconsin has not been officially listed as one of the states courting Caterpillar. But it makes sense if it was. And it would make doubly good sense with the company’s acquisition of Oak Creek/South Milwaukee-based Bucyrus International.

Could this be a win for the South Shore? Too early to say.

But it’s nice to dream …

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March 27, 2011 · 4:01 pm

Caterpillar Strength, Child Care Fraud, Heroic Student and More

Check out the following headlines from around the South Shore:

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    January 12, 2011 · 9:10 pm

    Oak Creek Power Plant Update and Other Headlines of Interest

    So, the Oak Creek power plant is finally complete.

    Read the full Journal Sentinel story here. From it:

    The biggest unknown: the project’s final cost. We Energies will file reports detailing the final cost this year when it seeks to adjust rates for 2012 and 2013, Kuester said.

    Regulators approved a $2.15 billion price tag for the project, and set a cap allowing overruns of up to 5% to be passed along to utility customers.

    “We hope customers won’t have to pay for any cost overruns associated with the construction of the power plants,” Charlie Higley, executive director of the coustomer group Wisconsin Citizens’ Utility Board. “We’re also hopeful that the plants continue to run well, and that We Energies doesn’t charge customers for any costs associated with uneven performance” of the first coal plant last year.

    And check out these other local headlines of note:

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    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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    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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    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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