Milwaukee Tool Expands U.S. Footprint

It’s not new iron, but the news from Milwaukee Tool is about its production of smaller tools of the trade and positive growth.

Milwaukee Tool is expanding its footprint in the United States with the announcement of a new vertically integrated manufacturing plant in West Bend, Wisconsin. Located 20 minutes from Milwaukee Tool’s global headquarters, the facility will manufacture new-to-market hand tools. “With a focus on core users in the electrical, plumbing and mechanical trades, our strategy for hand tools from the beginning has been to disrupt the market with superior performance, quality and user-driven feature sets,” said Tim Albrecht, president of hand tools for Milwaukee Tool.

With an initial expected investment of almost $26 million, Milwaukee Tool will break ground in April 2020 on the new manufacturing plant, and expects mass production to begin in early 2021.

“We will continue to invest, we will continue to grow, and we will continue to change the game,” said Steve Richman, group president of Milwaukee Tool. “In 2020 alone, we will invest over $100 million, and create 350 jobs in the United States to diversify our operations and better serve the professional trades.”

Milwaukee Tool currently has manufacturing and distribution operations around the nation in Greenwood, Olive Branch, and Jackson, Mississippi, as well as in Mukwonago and Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Along with the new hand tool manufacturing plant in West Bend, plans in progress to expand in 2020 include: operations in Cookeville, Tennessee, for power tool manufacturing and assembly; in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, for accessories manufacturing; and in Olive Branch, Mississippi, for a new 766,000 square foot distribution facility.

While U.S. manufacturing and distribution are an integral part of Milwaukee Tool’s global footprint, the disruptive innovation for the trades all start at the global headquarters in Brookfield, Wisconsin. The company has grown from 190,000 square feet and 300 jobs in Brookfield in 2011, to 390,000 square feet and over 1,400 jobs in 2019. With an additional 329,500 square feet of space slated to open in 2020, and a recent announcement of 65 acres of land purchased in Menomonee Falls, Milwaukee Tool is positioned to stay in the heart of Wisconsin long term.