Brookfield-based
Milwaukee Tool announced that it has opened its new office in Chicago at the Old Post Office building, at 433 W. Van Buren St. in downtown Chicago.
The company's plans to establish a Chicago office
were first reported in October by BizTimes Milwaukee. Milwaukee Tool has had significant growth in recent years and has expanded its operations in the Milwaukee area, but has had trouble attracting the talent to fill all of its open positions. Milwaukee Tool group president Steve Richman said the Chicago office would help the company's talent recruitment efforts.
"Chicago's flourishing ecosystem of technical talent is one of many reasons Milwaukee (Tool) chose to expand to the city," the company said today in a news release. "As Milwaukee Tool continues to pursue advancements in productivity and safety on the jobsite, the level of innovation necessary to design and develop breakthrough solutions requires engineering expertise across many disciplines."
The company's Chicago office will focus on engineering design and innovation. At 70,000 square feet, it will have room to house more than 250 employees. In October, Richman said the Chicago office would have 150 employees.
"Our people are our most valued asset," Richman said today in a news release. "As we continue to push the limits of new technology to deliver the best solutions for our users, an expansion into Chicago was an obvious choice. This city has a fast-growing tech scene that draws diverse talent from around the country. We are thrilled to partner with Chicago to attract, retain and recruit the very best people, as we continue building a culture that's unparalleled in our industry."
Approximately 10,000 square feet of Milwaukee Tool's Chicago office is dedicated to lab space for design and development of new technologies. The space will be home to multiple disciplines with the company's engineering team including embedded systems, firmware, power electronics, systems and mechanical engineers, PCB designers and project leaders.
Milwaukee Tool now has more than 10,000 employees in the United States, including its operations in the Milwaukee area, Sun Prairie, Mississippi, Tennessee and Indiana.
In the last year the company says it spent $216 million in expansion projects in the U.S., including $14 million to renovate the space for its Chicago office.
Milwaukee Tool is also expanding into downtown Milwaukee, renovating the former Assurant building at 501 W. Michigan St. The first employees moved into the building in March. The five-story, 370,000-square-foot building could accommodate up to 1,200 Milwaukee Tool employees.
Milwaukee Tool has manufacturing, distribution and operations in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. It's parent company is Hong Kong-based Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd.
The Old Post Office building, at 433 W. Van Buren St. in downtown Chicago.
