Business development
Oshkosh Corp. and Carnegie Foundry, a robotics and artificial intelligence venture studio headquartered in Pittsburgh, have formed a strategic partnership that includes an investment by Oshkosh Corp. in the Carnegie Foundry. The new partnership will build on this relationship and complements Oshkosh’s ongoing work in autonomous vehicles and equipment. As part of the strategic partnership, a member of Oshkosh Corp. will join the Carnegie Foundry board of directors.
Generac Power Systems is investing an additional $53 million in its facilities across Wisconsin and creating more than 700 new jobs throughout the state by the end of 2024. The expansion includes about 50 new jobs in Oshkosh. The Oshkosh expansion is tied to a deal for a five-year development agreement to build and supply advanced natural gas generators and control systems with resiliency microgrid innovator Enchanted Rock. The new units will be manufactured at Generac’s Oshkosh facility.
Skogen’s Festival Foods announced plans to purchase the Trig’s stores in Wausau, Weston and Stevens Point from the T.A. Solberg Co. The grocer will now operate 39 full-service supermarkets in Wisconsin.
The Sheboygan Redevelopment Authority approved a $375,000 economic development loan to be provided to Dallas-based Netstreit. The company plans to convert the vacant 97,910-square-foot former Shopko store on Sheboygan’s west side into two retail spaces, adding 15 jobs.
Frontier Airlines announced new nonstop flights to Tampa from Austin-Straubel Airport in Green Bay starting in December.
Fox World Travel is expanding global travel services in partnership with BCD Travel, an international travel management company.
Poly Vinyl Co. broke ground on a second location in Vision Business Park in Sheboygan Falls.
Marco expanded its copier/printer business through the acquisition of Wisconsin Imaging Solutions in New Berlin.
Burger Boat Co. debuted its Burger 50 Cruiser, a luxury aluminum cruiser with a white hull and custom artisan design touches.
LaForce, a supplier of commercial door opening products, services and security solutions, acquired Collins Door & Hardware, Inc. of Fort Collins, Colo. Additionally, LaForce’s annual weeklong Community Campaign raised $34,386 for local veterans’ charities H.O.O.A.H Wisconsin and Home For Our Troops to commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11.
Appvion Operations, Inc. created a new Advanced Materials and Solutions business division, which contains its direct thermal and dye sublimation businesses.
Broadway Automotive is purchasing the existing Hertz franchise located at Appleton International Airport, extending its operations within Northeast Wisconsin.
Kaho Partners, LLC, in partnership with Nassau Point Investors, LLC, have formed Premier Outdoor Living, LLC through the merger of Recycled Plastics Industries LLC of Green Bay and Highwood USA LLC of Hometown, Pa. Cornerstone Business Services facilitated the deal.
Martin Systems, Inc. acquired the fire protection and life safety companies Systems Plus of Wisconsin LLC of Madison and Enterprise Fire and Security of Milwaukee.
Global Alternative Investment Management LLC announced the launch of Unicorn Technology Fund II. The fund’s primary strategy is to acquire a portfolio of late-stage, venture-backed technology companies.
CastlePierce Printing installed a new central impression flexo press and a film poucher.
Agnesian HealthCare adopted a new name — SSM Health — and logo, with new signs appearing at health care facilities in Fond du Lac, Ripon and Waupun. The Agnesian HealthCare Foundation and The Foundation for Ripon Medical Center will maintain their current names. SSM Health also announced it will implement a new minimum wage of $15 per hour throughout its four-state system.
Business comings and goings
Prevea Health began offering family medicine care in Appleton at 2700 E. Enterprise Ave., Suite B.
Cobblestone Hotel & Suites opened in Little Chute.
Unity Peer Recovery Center, which offers peer-based mental health and substance addiction recovery services, opened in Appleton.
The Press Times moved its offices to the Broadway District in Green Bay.
Boutique shop Olive & Rose of Oshkosh opened a new location in downtown Appleton.
Walsh Dental Group opened a new facility in Shawano.
Bay Area Workforce Development Board opened a new office in the Broadway District in Green Bay.
Construction news
Titletown Development LLC, the real estate development arm of the Green Bay Packers, dedicated TitletownFlats, the seven-story apartment building on the west side of Titletown. The building features 152 luxury units, ranging in size from studio to three-bedroom flats.
Door County Medical Center will build a new Sister Bay facility, which includes a retail pharmacy, an enlarged gym, and possibly a golf rehab space. When completed, the building will offer enough space for five full-time clinicians and other rotating specialists.
The former Wells Fargo Bank building in downtown Two Rivers will be redeveloped into the Cool City Brewing Co., with plans to open in summer 2022.
InitiativeOne unveiled its 5,000 square-foot expansion at its headquarters in Green Bay.
Construction is complete on the Point Beach Solar Energy Center near Two Rivers. It’s expected to be fully operational by the end of the year.
The Boldt Co. and We Energies worked together to open a new solar array with 1,300 solar panels. The array is located on property owned by The Boldt Co. just east of the Chaska Golf Course in Greenville. The array will produce enough electricity to power 125 homes and is part of We Energies’ Solar Now Program.
The Oconto-J. Douglas Bake Municipal Airport is expanding its hangar space to hold four additional aircraft. The insulated and heated hangars are expected to be finished by January. The cost of the project is $748,495, with the Federal Aviation Administration paying $699,000 toward the project through its Airport Improvement Program and the airport is covering the remaining costs.
The Oshkosh Redevelopment Authority voted to proceed with a workforce-affordable apartment complex at the city’s Boatworks site. The developers are Tim Hess and Chet Wesenberg, and rents within the complex would range from $900 to $1,100 per month.
Two single-family homes and two six-unit townhouses are slated to be built in a mostly vacant lot across from the former Oconto Legion Golf Course.
Sheboygan North and Sheboygan South high school students broke ground on a residential home build in the Stonebrook Crossing subdivision in Sheboygan.
Bayland Buildings, Inc. is completing construction projects for the following: Drexel Truss Plant, Wrightstown; Countryside Veterinary, Appleton; Subway, Seymour; and Pivot Point, Hustisford. It also completed construction on Country Villa Assisted Living, Little Chute.
Keller Inc. is completing projects for East Wisconsin Savings Bank, Appleton and Little Chute, and Union Grove Family Dental.
Construction of the newest Tom’s Drive-In and Holidays Pub & Grill is proceeding at North Richmond Street and West Evergreen Drive in Appleton. Hoffman Planning, Design & Construction, Inc. is leading the project.
Education news
Classroom to Career, an Appleton Area School District program aimed at helping students explore career interests, celebrated the grand opening of The Lamers Family Foundation Launch Studio located at Appleton West High School.
UW-Green Bay opened pride centers on its Manitowoc and Sheboygan campuses. The school also saw freshman class enrollment gains of 4 percent at the Green Bay campus and 3 percent at the Marinette, Manitowoc and Sheboygan campuses. UW-Green Bay is partnering with Cellcomon new technology to monitor water and wildlife quality in the bay of Green Bay. The technology measures oxygen levels and water clarity from buoy platforms.
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College expanded its short-term credential offerings to the regional learning centers in Aurora, Crivitz, Luxemburg, Oconto Falls and Shawano and will offer more ways to earn a certification or credential in 16-week programming, broken into two eight-week class sessions.
UW-Oshkosh announced the opening of the Whitburn Center for Governance and Policy Research, which seeks to reinvigorate Wisconsin’s “good government” tradition by embodying the public service ideals of its founding benefactor, 1964 alumnus Gerald Whitburn. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded a $417,830 grant to UW-Oshkosh to keep litter and trash out of Green Bay and Lake Michigan. The EPA provided the Trash-Free Waters Grant under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The school also received funding for two speaker grants and one research grant totaling more than $85,000 from the Tommy Thompson Center for Public Leadership at UW-Madison.
Washington Monthly named St. Norbert College to its list of 2021 Best Colleges for Student Voting.
UA 400 Pipe Trades and the Mechanical Contractors Association hosted an Apprentice Signing Day event for 51 first-year apprentices. Contractors presented their respective apprentices in pipefitting, pipe fabrication, plumbing and HVAC service with a certificate of achievement.
The Fox Valley Technical College Foundation reached the milestone of awarding more than $10 million in scholarships to FVTC students.
Lawrence University marked Indigenous Peoples’ Day in October by dedicating a contemporary art sculpture created by Oneida architecture professor Chris Cornelius. The sculpture, called Otāēciah, means “crane” in the Menominee language. The plaza where the sculpture is located was renamed to Kaeyes Mamaceqtawuk, which means “Ancient People That Move” in the Menominee language.
Awards/recognitions/milestones
New North, Inc. and gener8tor won a Wisconsin Economic Development Association Community and Economic Development Award for the gener8tor Upskilling Initiative, which was launched in partnership with Microsoft, Thrivent and the Steve Stricker American Family Foundation to provide the first-in-the-nation opportunity to help people connect to a new skills training platform.
U.S. Venture attained Platinum certification in the Fox Cities Employee Friendly Workplace initiative through the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce. The company became the third in the region to attain certification and the first ever to earn certification at the Platinum level.
The Door County Economic Development Corp. handed out its annual awards: Lighthouse Award — Washington Island Ferry Line; The Range Lights Award — Door Community Child Development Center; and the Lightkeeper Award — Spot and Space.
Ahern was named the sixth-largest specialty contractor on Engineering News-Record magazine’s list of Top Specialty Contracting Firms in the Midwest. The company also ranked in the following categories: first in the state of Wisconsin, first in sheet metal, second in plumbing and fourth in mechanical.
