Green fields

Manitowoc County is reinventing its economy

By: Rick Berg, Insight Magazine

Looming four stories above the Eighth Street Bridge and the Manitowoc River, the River Loft Condos project is nearing completion, giving new life to the 128-year-old Osuld Torrison building.  It signals the continuing rebirth of Manitowoc’s downtown, and stands as one more symbol of the remarkable renaissance of the Manitowoc County economy.  Rocked by the 2003 closure of the Mirro Co. plant, which left nearly 900 workers without jobs, Manitowoc County has not only recovered all or most of those jobs, but has also done so by replacing them with “new economy” manufacturing jobs that should be far more resistant to overseas competition.

The former Mirro site itself has been recycled into productivity by three manufacturing businesses, including Orion Energy Systems – one of the shining lights of Manitowoc County’s “green” economy.  Orion, which produces energy-efficient lighting components, purchased the 266,000 square feet of space in the Mirro plant in 2004 and now employs 140 people at the facility.  In December, Orion broke ground on a 60,000-square-foot technology center at the site.  Orion, which raised $78.6 million through a public stock offering last year, remains posed for more growth, posting sales of more than $48 million – an increase of 45 percent from 2006.

Another of Manitowoc County’s green industries is also in a growth mode.  Last year, Tower Tech Holdings, which changed its name to Broadwind Energy in March, acquired Brad Foote Gear Works, a gearing systems manufacturer in Cicero, Ill.; Energy Maintenance Service, a wind energy operation and maintenance service provider in Gary, S.D.; and RBA Inc., a machining fabricator in Manitowoc.  Broadwind announced in March that it would relocate its corporate headquarters to Naperville, Ill., but that Manitowoc would remain home to Tower Tech Systems, which manufactures wind towers for the growing wind energy market.

A longtime mainstay of the Manitowoc County economy, the Manitowoc Company is turning the tables on the jobs-going-overseas paradigm, shipping its cranes to China and other worldwide locations, thereby securing the jobs of the roughly 1,500 employees in its Manitowoc County operations.  Forbes magazine recently name the Manitowoc Company its “Hot Company” in capital goods manufacturing, noting that “this $3.7 billion crane builder is feasting on huge demand from China and the United Arab Emirates, where cranes seem to outnumber people.”

With the global crane market expected to continue to grow, the company recently broke ground on a 50,000-square-foot expansion at its crane assembly facility in Manitowoc, part of a $25 million capital investment that will expand and modernize the company’s operations in Manitowoc and Port Washington.  The Manitowoc expansion is expected to create an additional 70 jobs.

Labor Pains

In fact, finding workers to fill those jobs just might be the biggest challenge the Manitowoc Company faces, and that’s a challenge shared by other manufacturers in the county.  Jill Hennessey, manager of talent acquisition for the Manitowoc Company, estimates that there are at least 300 available manufacturing jobs in the county and that her company and others can’t find enough welders and other skilled workers to fill those positions.  She’s helping to spearhead an educational campaign designed to change the perception that manufacturing jobs are disappearing from the county economy.

“The whole idea of doing ‘manufacturing is alive and thriving’ campaign is the recognition that there are a lot of negative perceptions about the future of manufacturing here,” says Hennessey. “It’s easy to perceive that manufacturing is dying when we’re besieged by news stories about factories closing down and jobs going overseas, but the fact is that manufacturing continues to be a vital, growing employer in Manitowoc County.
We have a very dedicated manufacturing workforce, but the rub is that many of the workers don’t necessarily have the skills employers need today.  In order for people to succeed today they have to have more technical skills.  It’s really a question of matching the right skills with the jobs available.  That’s what’s going to keep industry in this area.  If employers can’t find workers with right skills, yes, they’re going to go where the skill are.  So if we want to survive as a thriving economy, we have to provide the skilled workforce companies need.”

Ken Stubbe, executive director of the Economic Development Corporation of Manitowoc County, says the campaign – a collaborative effort by the EDCMC, the Chamber of Manitowoc County and the Bay Are Workforce Development Board – will make use of the local media, as well as programs targeted to the school programs.

“There’s a bit of a mismatch sometimes between the job openings and the skills of our workforce, but we’re addressing that, and we’re focusing on getting our workers the skills needed for manufacturing jobs of today and the future,” says Stubbe.

For Hennessey, the issue is personal, as well as professional.  “The reason I feel so passionate about this is I grew up in this area and I think there’s a lot of opportunity here.  There’s quality of life that’s second to none, and it makes me sad and frustrated when I hear people who have a very pessimistic view of the area and the long-term employability here.  There are opportunities to have a long career here with a family sustaining wage.  You don’t’ have to leave to find good-paying jobs.”

Downtown Rebound

Two Rivers and Manitowoc are both taking advantage of their waterfront assets to revitalize their commercial and residential sectors.  The River Lofts project in Manitowoc is expected to be a focal point of redevelopment along the river.  Seven of the 15 condo units, which range in price from $264,000 to $700,000, have already been sold.

West of downtown, the 75-acre Harbor Town retail development has taken off since its launch in 2003.  The site is now home to nearly $30 million worth of commercial development, including Associated Bank, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Petco and Starbucks, as well as about a dozen other retail and commercial businesses. A 68,000-square-foot Kohl’s department store is scheduled to open at the site later this year, and Festival Foods and Kwik Trip are expected to open location adjacent to the Harbor Town development by Fall.

“We’re smoking, and I’m not kidding,” says Manitowoc Mayor Kevin Crawford, who says the success of development in the Harbor Town area helps justify the investment the city made in infrastructure which was criticized at the time.

“The brilliance of any controversial decision is often underscored by how successful it looks in hindsight,” says Crawford.

In Two Rivers, the city is in the process of redeveloping their waterfront along the East Twin River, particularly at the 3.75 acre site of the former Eggers Industries plant, which was vacate din 2004 when eggers built a $20 million, 260,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on the City’s northwest side.  The city recently rezoned the site to make way for the proposed Boatworx yacht storage project, but the project was cancelled in April after owners Dan and Tracy Kaderabeck concluded that economic conditions didn’t justify going forward.
Two Rivers City Manager Greg Buckley says the news is disappointing, but adds that project’s demise might actually open the door for better use of the site.

“In some respects the Boatworx project had some aesthetic and landuse concerns, with such a large structure covering two blocks of the waterfront,” says Buckley.  “So while the Boatworx facility would have been a welcome addition, we now have an opportunity to pursue more mixed-use opportunities along the waterfront.”

In 2005, Two Rivers completed a major streetscape project downtown, and Buckley says he’s pleased with the “eclectic mix” of retail and commercial businesses that now populate Washington Street. A $15 million replacement of the 17th Street Bridge, which is expected to be completed by 2012, will also help spur development, says Buckley.

Two Rivers has gotten lots of mileage from its incubators.  Three of the county’s best small manufacturing success stories got their start in the incubators.  Rusch Machine, which launched in 200 and moved out of the incubator in 2004, now employs 18 people in its machinery manufacturing business.  Woodland Face Veneers, which graduated to its own facility in 2005 following a 2002 startup, now employs 45 people and reports annual sales growth of 20 percent or more.  Manitowoc Relay and Protector, which began operations in 2005, outgrew its incubator space in just 18 months and now employs 18 people.

Large employers like Manitowoc Company, Broadwind Energy, Orion Energy Systems, Burger Boat and Eggers Industries are obviously viatl to the county’s economy, but Stubbe notes that small businesses accounted for the lion’s share of the 300-plus jobs created in the county last year.

“Can you imagine the media attention if we announced that a new employer was coming to Manitowoc County and planned to create 300 jobs?  But what we’ve done is we’ve created 20 jobs here and 30 jobs there, and they all add up,” says Stubbe, “and a lot of those jobs have come as a result of helping existing employers expand.”

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