•Interstate 41 Corridor
Brown, Calumet, Outagamie, Winnebago, Fond du Lac Counties
Titletown office building to be named U.S. Venture Center
Titletown Development LLC, the real estate development arm of the Green Bay Packers, announced that the seven-story office tower on the west end of Titletown will be known as the U.S. Venture Center.
“With its reputation as an innovative business and one of its divisions, Breakthrough, being headquartered at the building, partnering with U.S. Venture for the building is the perfect fit,” said Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy.
Breakthrough, a division of U.S. Venture, Inc., is finalizing plans to locate its new headquarters, the Breakthrough Collaboration Hub, on the building’s fourth and fifth floors beginning in early 2022. Breakthrough’s space will provide a flexible work environment for its team of more than 100.
The location in Titletown also is designed to provide a unique, elevated experience for the company’s clients when they meet in Green Bay to further their transportation strategies.
The building includes a first-floor lobby level, five levels of office space and a top floor of meeting and event space for tenant use. It has about 150,000 square feet of office space for several hundred workers in all.
The building is set to be 80 percent occupied by early 2022. Miron Construction Co., Inc., the firm that constructed the building, has also begun operations on the building’s third floor. About 26,000 square feet of additional space is still available.
In addition to the U.S. Venture Center and the adjacent TitletownFlats, another 100,000 square feet of future development is envisioned for Titletown. Concepts under consideration include retail, health and wellness, food and beverage, and entertainment.
Bellin to build Ashwaubenon ambulatory surgery center
Bellin Health is building a five-story Ambulatory Surgery Center off Interstate 41, Waube Lane and Allied Street in the village of Ashwaubenon, on the site of the former Menards store and adjacent businesses. The new surgery center is expected to open in fall 2023.
“This new facility will provide increased access, an improved experience and lower costs for our patients, all while helping us fulfill our mission of enabling everyone in our region to achieve and maintain their full health and well-being potential,” said Bellin Health President and CEO Chris Woleske. “The ambulatory surgery center model has proven successful at our location in Marinette, and we look forward to sharing those same advantages with the Green Bay-area community.”
Bellin’s Ashwaubenon Ambulatory Surgery Center will be built with eight operating rooms and space for up to four more. The first floor will house the expansion of Bellin Health’s orthopedics department, including a joint replacement clinic and rheumatology clinic, as well as physical, occupational and speech therapy.
In addition, the clinic will have a full complement of diagnostic imaging services. The second floor will be dedicated to surgical services, including pre-surgical prep, operating rooms and recovery. The facility is expected to house about 450 providers and staff. Bellin worked with H.J. Martin and Son to collaboratively develop the location.
Pierce Manufacturing announces Appleton expansion, new jobs
Pierce Manufacturing started work on a 90,000-square-foot expansion to the company’s 360,000-square-foot facility located in Appleton at 2600 American Drive.
Another 60,000 square feet of production space also will be added to Pierce’s Neenah facility. The facility expansion will provide additional space for product assembly, material storage and testing of finished products.
Along with facility expansions, recruitment efforts have begun for the hiring of more than 200 jobs, including welders, painters, electricians and assemblers.
“As Pierce continues to develop innovative fire apparatus and technology, demand for our products has grown throughout the fire service community worldwide,” said Mike Kephart, vice president of operations for Pierce Manufacturing. “The new areas of our production and testing facilities are expected to be operational by fall of 2022.”
•The Lakeshore
Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Sheboygan Counties
Lakeshore Technical College grads report significant economic impact
Graduates of the Lakeshore Technical College 2019-20 academic year report high wages and employment rates after graduation, the college announced. LTC conducts post-graduation surveys six months to a year after graduation to gauge success.
The survey found the median salary for an associate degree graduate was $51,996. The highest salaries were among graduates of the electro-mechanical automation technology and wind energy technology programs, at $70,507 and $68,895, respectively.
Eighty-six percent of the graduates reported finding employment in Wisconsin, and 67 percent reported being employed within the LTC district, which includes Sheboygan and Manitowoc counties and portions of Calumet and Ozaukee counties.
Among the 67 programs included in the report, graduates from 45 programs reported 100 percent employment. Those programs include welding-industrial, dairy herd management, radiography, nursing-associate degree, automotive maintenance technician, IT-web and software developer, and paralegal.
•West Central
Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara, Marquette, Green Lake Counties
Rawhide expansion to allow for more youth outreach services
Rawhide Youth Services in New London launched its Building Hope capital campaign, a project that will expand services to at-risk youth in the region.
The three-part project includes the 10,000-square-foot Starr Youth Home, currently under construction, which will provide a family-centered therapeutic environment for residential youth.
The organization’s welcome center, which offers resources, seminars, social gatherings and training spaces, will be renovated. The project will also expand on an existing space to create a Bart and Cherry Starr Museum. Miron Construction Co., Inc. is the contractor for the project.
To date, Rawhide has raised about $5.5 million out of its $6 million goal for this project. The Sentry Insurance Foundation committed $1.5 million to the project to honor Bart Starr, who served 34 years on the Sentry board of directors.
•The Northwoods
Florence, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto Counties
OSHA seeks $200K in fines against Waupaca Foundry in Marinette
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is seeking more than $200,000 in fines from Waupaca Foundry Inc. after two workers were seriously injured at the Marinette plant.
After the investigation of the two separate instances, federal safety inspections determined that the workers were injured because of safety failures. One employee lost two fingers in May, and another was injured after being struck by an overhead hot metal carrier in July.
While the agency was investigating the May 4 incident, it opened a second scheduled inspection under its National Emphasis Program for Primary Metals and found violations related to exposure to respirable crystalling silica and noise.
The employer reported the July 17 injury during that second inspection, leading to a third inspection.
OSHA determined that a lack of energy control procedures exposed workers to hazards in both incidents. OSHA then issued violations including one willful, seven serious and five other-than-serious, proposing $200,895 in penalties.
Tractor Supply Co. opens in former Oconto Shopko site
Nashville-based Tractor Supply Co. opened a location in the former Shopko Hometown location in Oconto. The company also opened a store in a former Shopko location in Kewaunee, and both stores employ around 15 people.
Tractor Supply bills itself as the largest rural lifestyle retailer in the United States. The 80-year-old company offers an extensive mix of products to care for home, land, pets and animals with a focus on product localization, exclusive brands and customer service.
As of September, the company operated 1,967 Tractor Supply stores in 49 states.
