Production machining firm Diamond Precision Products is investing $6.5 million in new equipment for its operations on the far northwest side of Milwaukee.
The company is seeking a $1.6 million loan from the Milwaukee Economic Development Corp. while the primary lender on the project is Racine-based Johnson Bank.
Bryan Weiss, Diamond Precision president, said the company will be investing in horizontal and vertical CNC machining centers, lathes and automation.
“I would say that’s probably why we’re getting some of the work,” Weiss said of the automation, noting the company has been able pick up work its customers previously had done overseas.
Diamond Precision also expects to add 25 jobs in the next two years to go with the 40 already at the facility’s 82,000-square-foot facility at 11000 W. Heather Ave.
A division of Saelens Corp., Diamond Precision is based in Johnson Creek and expanded to Milwaukee in 2011. That expansion also was supported by an MEDC loan, along with assistance from the Northwest Side Community Development Corp. and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.
One reason for the expansion was to be closer to an available workforce in the city. Weiss said the company has had mixed results, although there are more workers available.
“There’s still a definite shortage,” he said, adding the company has hired roughly a dozen people with no machining experience in the past year and trained them to fill the company’s needs.
