Grafton-based Kapco Inc. is the inaugural recipient of the Wisconsin Business Achievement Award, presented by the Flowers Family Foundation Inc.
The award, which was presented Wednesday at the State of Wisconsin Business Event in Madison, honors the outstanding economic and philanthropic contributions of individuals or entities engaged in free enterprise. The award includes a $50,000 donation from the Flowers Family Foundation to a Wisconsin-based nonprofit organization of the winner’s choosing. Kapco selected Hometown Heroes, a charity that supports families in need, to receive the donation.
Established in 1972 as a small, family-run metal stamping company, Kapco has evolved into a full-service metal components manufacturer specializing in robotic stamping and welding, progressive die stamping, deep draw complete tool and die, heavy stamping, fabricating and wet coatings. Kapco contracts with some of the best known brands in the military, construction, industrial equipment, recreational vehicles, fitness equipment, and electronic motor and generator industries.
Kapco, founded by Tom Kacmarcik Sr., employs more than 400 people at six locations, all of which are in Wisconsin.
CEO Jim Kacmarcik also founded K-Nation Entertainment, a full-service entertainment company for emerging recording artists and is the owner of the Mequon-based Lakeshore Chinooks baseball franchise. More recently, Jim Kacmarcik became part of the minority ownership group of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Jim Kacmarcik said, “When Kapco was founded by my parents in 1972, I don’t think they could have envisioned a day when our humble company would be honored in such a way. I’m surrounded by a team who truly cares about the quality of their work. I’m surrounded by a team who demonstrates each day that manufacturing is still a great source of employment in Wisconsin. I’m surrounded by a team that is proving you can have a profitable and fast-growing manufacturing company without shipping jobs and work overseas. We are both pleased and proud to contribute to Wisconsin’s economy for the past 40 years. We are humbled by this recognition.”
“My vision for the Wisconsin Business Achievement Award was to highlight the incredibly valuable and often unheralded contributions of businesses and the men and women who run them,” said Rockne “Rock” Flowers. “Kapco Inc. certainly fits those criteria and then some. Kapco, Inc. enhances the quality of life for people in its community, not only through its positive economic impact, but also through its charitable and entertainment contributions.”
