Waukesha-based Husco International plans to invest $85 million in its facilities around the world and add 270 jobs by 2020 as part of an expansion and modernization plan.
Roughly $16 million of the total investment will be going to expanding and modernizing the company’s facilities. The remaining $69 million is dedicated to new, program-specific manufacturing equipment and tooling. Husco, which designs and produces hydraulic and electro-hydraulic components, said it has begun launching new product programs that will contribute $165 million in revenue annually by 2020.
Austin Ramirez, Husco International chief executive officer, said about two-thirds of the new business is for the automotive market while the remaining third is for the off-highway market.
“All of this growth for us is market share growth,” he said.
Revenue for this year is expected to top $400 million, an increase of more than 10 percent over last year. The increase comes as automotive sales in the U.S. have been down by 2.7 percent year-to-date after back-to-back record years and the off-highway market has struggled.
In 2016, Husco announced it would be ending production for the off-highway business at its Waukesha facility. Work for the business was shifted to other facilities and 67 employees were laid off while others transferred or retired. At the same time the company increased its investment in its automotive parts business at its Waukesha facility. Ramirez said this week that the decision was partially about producing things where it makes the most sense for the company.
Husco also paid back a portion of the tax credits it had received from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. for a 2013 capital expansion project. Unlike that project, the current expansion will be funded in entirely by the company.
One-third of the new investment will be focused on the company’s Waukesha headquarters with $11 million going towards modernizing its manufacturing facility and corporate offices and another $17 million invested in new advanced assembly and tooling equipment.
The new manufacturing work coming to the Waukesha facility will be focused on automotive and the company plans to add 80 jobs at the facility.
Husco submitted plans to the city of Waukesha earlier this year that called for a 20,800-square-foot addition to its headquarters and renovating large portions of the facility at 2239 Pewaukee Road.
The headquarters facility was built in 1954 and has been added onto a dozen times over the years. Ramirez said it was the first time Husco took a step back and tried to take a more comprehensive and integrated approach to updating the building.
The intent is for the project to modernize the facility and make it more appealing to today’s workforce. Ramirez said that includes bringing in more natural light, better integrating teams to allow for collaboration and creating shared spaces to work and socialize.
Husco is also planning investments at its facilities in Whitewater, adding about 40 jobs, making some investments in modernizing the facility and investing in equipment for new programs.
Facilities in Iowa, India, England and China will also see investments.
Ramirez said the project is the culmination of two or three years of work in winning new business and considering how best to position its manufacturing footprint. The investments will support the company’s current growth while also laying the groundwork for future expansions.
He added the businesses success is “intimately tied” to his family’s ability to make investments in the community. Those investments have included the recently opened St. Augustine Prep on Milwaukee’s South Side.
