German industrial automation implementation firm
Beckhoff Automation LLC plans to open an office this summer at the
Global Water Center in Milwaukee's Walker's Point neighborhood.
According to city building permit records, Beckhoff is preparing an office space on the third floor of the building, which is located at 247 W. Freshwater Way, a water business and research facility.
The office will have eight employees working in sales, technical support or engineering services at the 3,600-square-foot space. These are mostly existing roles, said the company, but more could be added as Beckhoff builds up its business in the area.
Beckhoff said it is aiming for an opening date of July 1, though that date will change if conditions surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak don't improve in the coming months.
Jacob Schieffer, regional manager with Beckhoff, said the new Milwaukee office "will serve as a leading-edge automation technology hub."
The new office is part of the company's plans to grow its market share across the state. Existing clients include the
North Shore Water Commission, which operates the water filtration plant in Glendale; Saukville-based vertical form fill seal baggers and packaging equipment manufacturer
Matrix Packaging Machinery; and Menomonee Falls-based
Messer Cutting Systems, a manufacturer of cutting systems for the metal-working industry.
"The Milwaukee metropolitan area is home to numerous high-profile manufacturers, machine builders and other high-tech companies that need high-performance automation solutions," Schieffer said in a statement. "We have experienced especially strong growth with customers based here."
The Global Water Center serves as the world headquarters of
The Water Council and is home to more than 40 water-centric businesses, startups and academic and research organizations.
It was this focus that attracted Beckhoff to select the building as its office location, said Schieffer.
"Opening an office at GWC furthers our commitment to delivering leading-edge automation and controls technologies both for machine builders and manufacturers, as well as process industry customers in water and wastewater treatment," he said.
The building also neighbors the 17-acre
Reed Street Yards business park, which is the location of Zurn Industries' global headquarters and where Rite-Hite
plans to relocate its headquarters from Brown Deer.
"As water resource management becomes even more critical to U.S. infrastructure as well as the rest of the world, our upcoming office opening at GWC in Milwaukee will help support our initiatives to work in more new water and wastewater treatment applications," Schieffer said.
Beckhoff is headquartered in Verl, Germany, and has a division in the U.S. that is based in Savage, Minnesota. It also has a small office in Fond du Lac and a Chicago-area location in Woodridge, Illinois.
