» Interstate 41 Corridor
Brown, Calumet, Outagamie, Winnebago, Fond du Lac Counties
Oshkosh Corp. retools for its next run
Oshkosh Corp. will take on its next contract for military vehicles with a new driver steering the company’s future.
In mid-September, Oshkosh Corp. announced that Charles Szews will retire at year’s end. Consistent with the company’s succession plans, Wilson R. Jones, the current president and chief operating officer, will assume the CEO mantle.
Szews has been with Oshkosh Corp. since 1996, when he joined as chief financial officer. From 2007 to 2011, he served as president and CFO. He has been in a leadership role as the company has grown its sales from $400 million a year to more than $6 billion. During his term as CEO, he has guided the company through the phase-out of several major contracts for military vehicles, as well as the effort to secure a multi-billion contract earlier this summer.
“During his career, Charlie led our company through numerous historical milestones and contributed to the company’s growth,” says Richard M. Donnelly, chairman of the Oshkosh Corp. board of directors. “Most recently, he and the entire Oshkosh team worked fervently to win the revolutionary DoD Joint Light Tactical Vehicle contract.”
In August, the U.S. Army awarded Oshkosh Defense a $6.7 billion contract to manufacture the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle to replace the legacy Humvee fleet. Oshkosh expects to deliver approximately 17,000 vehicles and provide support services.
Austin Straubel site tagged as ready for development
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. designated a portion of the Austin Straubel Commerce District in Hobart as a Certified In Wisconsin development-ready site.
The 33.2-acre site, located on airport property, is the state’s 15th certified site. A Certified In Wisconsin site gives site selectors and business owners confidence that building plans will not be held up by costly delays in permitting and approvals.
Launched by WEDC in 2012, the Certified In Wisconsin program provides potential tenants with information regarding utility and transportation infrastructure, environmental assessments and quality of labor force. WEDC will market the certified site through its Locate In Wisconsin website, LocateInWisconsin.com.
The site offers commercial and freight air access and is located near Interstate 43, Interstate 41, Wisconsin Highway 172 and the Port of
Green Bay.
“Western Brown County offers tremendous potential for economic development, and today’s announcement is a significant step toward realizing our vision for a thriving business park here at Austin Straubel,” says Troy Streckenbach, Brown County executive.
» The Northwoods
Florence, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto Counties
New program targets maritime worker training
Shipbuilders in Northeast Wisconsin could receive federal help to train needed maritime workers if the proposed Maritime and Energy Workforce Technical Training Enhancement Act becomes law.
The program, championed by lawmakers from coastal and Great Lakes states with active shipyards, would establish Centers of Excellence programs in maritime and energy workforce technical training in addition to awarding competitive grants to train workers for those industries.
To be eligible for either program, an institution must be a community college or other public post-secondary educational institution located in close proximity to marine or port facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean or Great Lakes.
“Without increasing the investment in skills training for marine builders, the industry will not be able to meet the demands for new pleasure craft and most importantly for building and maintaining the Naval fleet to keep the United States secure,” says Ann Franz, director of the North Coast Marine Manufacturing Alliance, an industry partnership in northeast Wisconsin.
The Maritime and Energy Workforce Technical Training Enhancement Act authorizes $12 million in each of the next three fiscal years.
» West Central
Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara, Marquette, Green Lake Counties
Marion Body Works expands operations
Marion Body Works, Inc. will build a new headquarters and expand an existing facility at the company’s production campus in Marion.
The new Marion Body Works headquarters will feature corporate offices, a customer showroom, engineering and design in approximately 19,000 square feet of space. Architects with Consolidated Construction, a design-build firm located in Appleton, designed the building.
On the same site, Marion Body Works will be adding to its existing, 183,700-square-foot production and warehouse building with a 42,000- square-foot expansion.
“This is the largest building expansion in the company’s history,” says Curt Ignacio, CEO. “In addition to meeting our immediate space needs, this will secure that we’ve got the ability to meet customer requests that haven’t even been imagined yet.”
Construction is expected to be compete in May 2016.
In business since 1905, Marion Body Works manufactures fire and emergency apparatus, commercial truck bodies, aluminum custom cabs, custom engineered vehicles and defense products for customers across the country.
» The Lakeshore
Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Sheboygan Counties
Sturgeon Bay loses yacht maker Palmer Johnson
Sturgeon Bay-based Palmer Johnson Yachts will begin closing down its shipyard this month.
In a plant closing notice filed with the Department of Workforce Development, the company cited declining sales and offshore competition as factors in its decision. The company has finalized an agreement to take over a shipyard in the Netherlands, where it will focus on its carbon composite series of yachts.
“We are disappointed and saddened by this business closing, and yet realize there is no alternative,” the company said in a statement.
The company has a long history in Sturgeon Bay, with the shipyard tracing its roots back to 1918 when it was founded as Johnson & Gmack to build fishing vessels. After World War II, the company shifted its focus primarily to yacht building, particularly the “megayachts,” producing some of the fastest boats in the world, including 1979’s Fortuna, build for King Juan Carlos of Spain.
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