Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, WEDC Secretary Missy Hughes, and other officials visited Milwaukee Tool’s newest manufacturing plant in West Bend to celebrate the plant’s opening in August 2022.
Secretary and CEO, Missy Hughes, shared remarks celebrating the plant opening.
Milwaukee Tool’s rapid growth in Wisconsin continues, with an expansion constituting $206 million in investment and the creation of 1,000 new jobs announced in 2022. WEDC is supporting the project with an additional $22.5 million in Enterprise Zone Tax Credits, raising the state’s total investment in the company’s success to $70.5 million.
Milwaukee Tool’s growth is fueled by its dedication to new technologies and user-driven innovations. The company’s newest investment in Wisconsin will help support the expansion of its existing research and development facilities, infrastructure needs, and equipment at its nine locations across the state. Of the 1,000 jobs the company has committed to create, many will be critical engineering and technical roles needed to support the rapidly advancing technologies harnessed in its products.
WEDC and Milwaukee Tool began their partnership in 2016 when the state created an Enterprise Zone to support the company’s expansion in Wisconsin. With the latest amendment, the state will provide up to $70.5 million in tax credits if the company makes a total capital investment of at least $285 million and also meets its job creation targets. At the end of 2021 (at the close of the most recent reporting period), Milwaukee Tool had invested more than $233 million and created 2,289 new jobs since the zone’s creation. Over the last decade, the company has experienced double-digit growth globally. It currently employs more than 10,000 people in the U.S.—3,600 of those in Wisconsin.
Founded in Milwaukee in 1924, Milwaukee Tool develops job site solutions for the construction trades worldwide. Headquartered in Brookfield, the company is especially known for its cordless power tools, safety solutions, battery-powered outdoor power equipment, time-saving accessories, and innovative hand tools. The company is a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Techtronic Industries.
State officials visited the company’s newest plant—located in West Bend, 20 minutes from the company’s Brookfield headquarters—in August 2022 to celebrate the plant’s opening. The 95,000-square-foot facility will manufacture new-to-market hand tools for users in the electrical, plumbing, and mechanical trades, with a line of screwdrivers and plyers among the first solutions to be made here. Milwaukee Tool has invested $55 million to build and equip this facility with advanced technology and equipment, and has the right of first refusal to purchase an additional 20 acres for future expansion, which would accommodate another 225,000-square-foot building. Milwaukee Tool’s facility is the first development in the City of West Bend’s newest 216-acre industrial park, West Bend Manufacturing Center.
“This state has been our company’s home for nearly 100 years, and we’re proud to continue our investments here,” Milwaukee Tool Chief Financial Officer Ty Staviski said. “Our people are the key to our success. We look forward to introducing 1,000 more people to the incredible culture we’ve created at our world-class facilities.”
