Milwaukee-based metal fabricator Compo Steel Products Inc. plans to add 30 jobs with the help of a loan from the Northwest Side Community Development Corp. and the Milwaukee Economic Development Corp.
The $825,000 loan will go toward working capital and fueling the company’s expansion and job growth, said Andrew Haug, resource development manager at NWSCDC. Some of the loan will go to refinance existing debt, while the rest will go to fulfilling new orders with additional materials and employees. Compo does a lot of work with electric diesel locomotives, Haug said.
“It’s still advanced metal work, but beyond the locomotive business, they’re getting into some rail cars related to mining,” Haug said. “They’re anticipating new customers and new orders.”
Compo, located at 3637 N. Holton St., originally applied for about $1.5 million from the MEDC, but “some other funding sources did not materialize,” said Jordan Maki, loan officer at MEDC.
As of August 2015, Compo had 60 employees. The 30 new employees would be added by September 2019. The loan repayment term is 44 months beginning in December.
The NWSCDC was just awarded a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Community Services’ “Community Economic Development” program to fund its $500,000 portion of the loan.
As part of the grant agreement, at least 23 of the jobs Compo creates must be filled by low-income job seekers.
“We are grateful for the ongoing support of the OCS Community Economic Development program,” said Howard Snyder, executive director of the NWSCDC. “The award helps us build on our continuing work to attract and grow businesses and quality jobs in Milwaukee.”
Compo Steel representatives could not be reached for comment.
