Developments

Corporate Report Wisconsin, Mar 2005

NORTHEAST

STATEWIDE

Northeast Wisconsin

APPLETON

Appleton (formerly Appleton Papers Inc.) paid approximately $68 million for New England Extrusion Inc., Turners Falls, Mass., a privately held manufacturer of polyethylene films used in packaging applications with annual sales of about $50 million.

CMD Corp. got a $250,000 Technology Zone credit. The design and manufacturing company makes products for the flexible packaging and blown-film industries, and plans to build a new $2.6 million R&D facility, creating up to 25 new jobs.

ASHWAUBENON

Solo Cup Co. (formerly Erving Paper Co.) will close its manufacturing plant this month, laying off up to 105 employees. The plant produced items such as napkins, placemats and table covers for food-service distributors, and had been in operation for more than 97 years.

GREEN BAY

The beleaguered downtown Washington Commons mall has a new champion. Turnaround expert Pfefferle Cos. took over management of the property and will attempt to revitalize it. Formerly know as the Port Plaza Mall, it has lost nearly all of its retail tenants over the past decade, including anchor stores Younkers and Boston Store. Pfefferle managed a similar turnaround project at the Avenue Mall in Appleton.

For the first time, passenger boardings at Austin Straubel International Airport exceeded 400,000 in a single year. There were more than 413,000 boardings in 2004, a 5% increase from the previous year. A second concourse is currently under construction at the airport.

KEIL TO SAUKVILLE

In an effort to preserve freight rail service and spur economic development, the state purchased a 37-mile stretch of railway between the towns of Kiel and Saukville for $1.9 million from the Canadian National Railway Co. Funds came in part from the Wis. Department of Transportation's Freight Railroad Preservation Program, and matching funds will come from local shippers and the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad Co., which will operate the line.

KOHLER

Whistling Straits Golf Course was named as the host for the 2010 and 2015 PGA Championships, as well as the 2020 Ryder Cup Matches. Last year's PGA Golf Championship here added more than $76 million to the state's economy, according to a study by NorthStar Economics Inc.

OSHKOSH

Leach Co., a manufacturer of garbage trucks, will shut down operations this month, laying off nearly 200 employees. Parent company Federal Signal, Oak Brook, Ill., intends to consolidate the Oshkosh production at its plant in Alberta, Canada. Leach was a manufacturing presence in Oshkosh for 117 years.

SHEBOYGAN

A vacant malting plant formerly operated by Cargill, will be converted into an ethanol production facility by Oshkosh-based Utica Energy. Utica will use a $1.4 million loan from the Wis. Department of Transportation to build a new 4,000-foot rail spur to the facility.

TWO RIVERS

The owners of the former Streu Construction Co. were sentenced to jail time by a U.S. District Court judge in January. Ernest Streu, the road construction company's president, and his nephew John Streu, the company secretary/treasurer, had submitted a plea bargain in connection with a bid-rigging scandal ("Road Builders Hit Rough Patch," CRW, August '04). Ernest was sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to pay fines of $225,000, while John received a five-month sentence and fines of $75,000. Streu Construction has changed its name to PCC Construction Co. and can continue to work on road projects, but the Streu's will not be allowed to hold managerial positions within the company.

STATEWIDE DEVELOPMENTS

SOUTHEAST

KENOSHA: Roundy's Inc. will construct a new facility here that will employ at least 150 new workers. The project will be aided by $250,000 in Community Development Zone tax credits from the Department of Commerce. Roundy's will invest $22 million to construct and equip a 110,000-sq.-ft. food-processing facility in Kenosha. Roundy's is a leading food retailer in the Midwest. The new facility will produce bottled water, ice, juice drinks, orange juice, ice cream, meat products, cut and wrapped cheeses, prepared foods, and salads.

A former brownfield southwest of downtown will become a mixed retail/residential project if plans by Middleton-based Professional Realty Development Corp. go through. The former industrial property could hold a 54,000-sq.-ft. grocery store, 15,000-sq.-ft. and 8,000-sq.-ft. retail buildings, and a three-story, mixed-use building with 30,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor and 62 residential units on the upper two floors.

MENOMONEE FALLS: Kohl's Corp. will use $3 million in state tax credits to expand its headquarters here and add up to 1,000 jobs to the 2,500 already there. The ongoing project will enlarge the 530,000-sq.-ft. complex by 65%. The credits come under the Enterprise Development Zone Program due to areas of high unemployment and economic distress in neighboring Milwaukee County.

MILWAUKEE: Mining equipment manufacturer Bucyrus International Inc. will expand its South Milwaukee-based operations by taking over the former Metso Minerals plant eight miles away. This will create 100 new jobs, primarily specialty welding positions. The state is expected to provide about $300,000 in funds to upgrade the plant, while Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has urged the Common Council to approve a $150,000 loan to Bucyrus to support employee training through the Milwaukee Economic Development Corp. Increased sales such as mining equipment to China and anticipated growth led to the company's decision to expand. Sales for the first nine months of 2004 totaled $325.6 million, a 40% increase over the same period in 2003.