Regal Rexnord, Milwaukee Tool, Fiserv, Michels, Rite-Hite, Twin Disc, Church Mutual, Manitowoc Company and Mayville Engineering. What do these companies have in common?
Within the past five years, all of them have either moved their headquarters to the city of Milwaukee, have added an office in Milwaukee, or have announced plans to do so. In most of these cases, the companies said they want an office in Milwaukee to help attract the talent they need to grow their business.
For decades after World War II Milwaukee lost a large number of businesses, some heading to the suburbs, others to different states or countries seeking lower-cost labor.
Milwaukee’s population has fallen steadily since the 1960s, and the city is still struggling with serious issues, including racial segregation, poverty and crime.
Even so, Milwaukee has significant economic advantages, such as population density and cultural and entertainment amenities, that attract the talent businesses need.
Some companies are moving to Milwaukee from the suburbs. Rite-Hite, formerly based in Brown Deer, completed a new headquarters development in Reed Street Yards in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood, bringing 300 employees. Milwaukee Tool opened a downtown Milwaukee office, where it has 900 employees and plans to grow its staff there to 1,200. Fiserv will soon move its headquarters from Brookfield to downtown Milwaukee and plans to eventually have 780 employees there.
What’s been even more interesting is seeing companies from outside of the Milwaukee area choosing to establish an office in the city. As part of a $100 million mixed-use development in Milwaukee, Brownsville-based Michels Corp. established an office on the top floors of an eight-story office building. Manitowoc Company moved its headquarters to an office building on Milwaukee’s far northwest side.
Last year, Merrill-based Church Mutual Insurance opened an office in downtown Milwaukee. The company said its Milwaukee office will enhance its recruiting efforts providing access to a diverse pool of young talent. It also offers an option for an urban location for employees who wish to remain in Wisconsin but don’t want to live in a smaller city.
That’s a formula that could continue to attract more companies from smaller Wisconsin communities to open offices in Milwaukee. Mayville Engineering Co. is the latest example. Its leaders announced plans to move the company’s corporate headquarters to Milwaukee, saying the company, which went public in 2019, needs to be in a larger city to attract the talent it needs.
For similar reasons, don’t be surprised if companies like Michels, Church Mutual and Associated Bank eventually decide to do what Regal Rexnord did recently: make their Milwaukee offices the headquarters for their companies.
