Bradley Corp. Breaks Ground For Manufacturing Facility

officially broke ground Wednesday for its new manufacturing plant in the Germantown Business Park at N106W13500 Bradley Way.

Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and State Representative Dan Knodl (R-Germantown), along with company representatives and other government officials, were on hand to witness the groundbreaking ceremony. The warm, spring sunshine made for a pleasant atmosphere in which to celebrate Bradley's 90 years in business. The company employs close to 600 people worldwide with about 400 jobs in Southeastern Wisconsin.

Creating Wisconsin jobs was at the forefront of the keynote message delivered by Kleefisch. She praised Bradley CEO Donald H. Mullett and members of his family who were also on the stage. The family is now in its fifth generation of operating the company.

“Thank you for what you are doing and for your spirit of enterprise and entrepreneurship in the state of Wisconsin,” Kleefisch said. “This is a wonderful day for our great state. As you know, Governor Walker toured the state for the last year and a half, proclaiming Wisconsin is open for business. Our campaign pledge to help the private sector create 250,000 new jobs in four years is more of a promise now than it ever was before.”

“Don and his family for 90 years have said that we are going to be a U.S.-based manufacturing company,” added Mike Sipek, Bradley Corporation COO.  “We’re going to find a way to manufacture our goods in Wisconsin, in Ohio and in the United States and ship them all over the world. We’ve stuck to that and we’re proud of that.”

Kleefisch also criticized and poked fun at Illinois lawmakers while inviting businesses in that state to take a closer look at what Wisconsin has to offer.

“Illinois Governor Quinn has signed 46 percent tax increases and 67 percent tax increases for personal income tax,” Kleefisch said. “Illinois has a sales tax of 9.75 percent. They have a tax on prescription drugs, a tax on manufacturing for energy in the winter, and taxes for Amazon purchases. Illinois has teams that collapse in epic football games! We don’t have any of those things here in the great state of Wisconsin. While we are offering folks from Illinois greener pastures, they are listening.”

Knodl said that government needs to help businesses grow instead of getting in their way.

“We want to be a help to business, not a hindrance,” Knodl said. “We want to be a partner, not a punisher of business. That’s the way we want to move forward. More businesses are welcome to come to Germantown and as business goes, the state of Wisconsin is going to go. As businesses grow and expand the job base will grow and expand. That’s what’s going to drive our economy going forward.”

DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp pointed out that as she travels around the state, one of the biggest frustrations she hears from business owners is having to cut through all the red tape and regulations to move their plans forward.  She called it a “new day” of cooperation between state government and business, especially small businesses which create many so jobs in the private sector.

“As we talk about bringing jobs and companies into Wisconsin, which is so important to our economic sustainability and growth, it’s equally important to recognize the families, the business owners and job providers in the state who have been here and invested in the state of Wisconsin and to remind ourselves to thank them for continuing their commitment to Wisconsin and to the United States of America to keep jobs here and help grow our economy,” Stepp said.

In December, the Menomonee Falls Village Board approved $8 million in industrial development revenue bonds to finance the facilities expansion as well as renovations at their current Falls headquarters at at W142N9101 Fountain Blvd. Up to $700,000 in funds will pay for renovating the company’s existing facility with the rest of the funding going toward their new project.

In in December, Village Manager Mark Fitzgerald said the board was glad to help Bradley expand even though their new facilities would cross village borders into Germantown.

“Bradley has been a fixture in Menomonee Falls, and they are one of our initial manufacturers,” Fitzgerald said during that interview. “We would always want to see them be successful.”

Plans call for the new plant to be up and running by early 2012.