— Uline plans to add 200 jobs and more than 4.5 million square feet of new development in Kenosha County over the next two years.
The Pleasant Prairie-based company distributes shipping, industrial and packaging materials to customers throughout North America. Chief Human Resources Officer Gil De Las Alas says the planned expansion will facilitate continued growth at the business and bring more operations from leased space into company-owned facilities.
In an interview yesterday, he said Uline is looking to promote employment opportunities in Wisconsin amid the competitive labor market.
“Our business is growing, and so we want to be able to support that growth,” he told WisBusiness.com. “The warehouses in Kenosha help support and supply other Uline distribution centers around the country … As we have growth in other parts of the country, the Kenosha campus helps support the growth in other places as well.”
The company currently employs about 9,000 workers overall, including 3,500 in Kenosha County alone. Of the 200 new positions Uline is looking to fill, 150 are warehouse roles and the other 50 are customer service jobs.
De Las Alas explained Uline’s customers are increasingly calling and emailing to place orders or get questions answered, and the additional positions will help meet that rising volume of inquiries. While the business is looking to fill other positions elsewhere during this expansion effort, these jobs will all be located in southeastern Wisconsin, he said.
Meanwhile, the planned addition of 4.5 million square feet of new space would bring the company’s footprint in Kenosha County to about 14.5 million square feet.
Uline has begun work on the first of four facilities on a 350-acre plot purchased late last year, a 1.4 million square-foot distribution center that would be its largest warehouse once complete. And construction has begun on another facility in Bristol, according to project details from the company.
De Las Alas said the current timeline for the overall project is 18-24 months, based on the latest details he’s received from construction teams.
“Even though that’s the horizon, we have a fairly large footprint throughout Kenosha … We can absorb the added headcount in the short term, and that’s why we’re hiring now,” he said.
See more on the expansion plans: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2023/uline-expands-its-footprint-and-workforce-in-wisconsin/
— The Senate has signed off on a host of changes to the state’s unemployment program that backers have argued would help address Wisconsin’s labor shortage.
But Minority Leader Melissa Agard, D-Madison, said the bills stand no chance of becoming law and argued Republicans are taking the wrong approach to attracting more workers to the state.
All five bills cleared the Senate on party-line 22-11 votes. Dem Gov, Tony Evers vetoed similar bills last session, and Agard hinted he would do the same again once these land on his desk.
Agard said if current migration trends continue, Wisconsin can expect to have 130,000 fewer workers in coming years as the Baby Boom generation retires. That makes retaining and attracting young workers that much more important.
But rather than passing bills to make it harder to obtain unemployment at a time when the state has a record low jobless rate, she argued Republicans should be focused on affordable health care, paid family leave, legalized marijuana and reproductive freedom.
“This is a cynical distraction from the work we should be doing. But thankfully they won’t become law,” she said.
No Republicans spoke on the bills during the floor debate.
See details on the bills at WisPolitics.com: https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/wed-pm-update-vos-suggests-dropping-milwaukee-provisions-from-shared-revenue-bill-as-standoff-could-halt-budget-work
— Labor leaders in Milwaukee and Madison are celebrating after employees of Colectivo Coffee voted to finalize a union contract after nearly a year of negotiations.
Workers in the Milwaukee and Madison markets represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 494 chapter and those in Chicago represented by Local 1220 have voted to accept and ratify their first union contract, a release shows. More than 95 percent voted in favor.
Hillary Laskonis, a worker at Colectivo Coffee in Milwaukee and original member of the Volunteer Organizing Committee of the Colectivo Collective, praised the “tireless work” of union leaders and supportive customers and community members.
“I am beside myself with gratitude for all of them this week. I look forward to what the future holds for those of us behind the counter and throughout Colectivo Coffee,” she said in a statement.
Colectivo Coffee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
— Gov. Tony Evers has announced $1.4 million in grant funding for projects in coastal communities across the state.
The Wisconsin Coastal Management Council made recommendations for this year’s grants, awarded through the state Department of Administration’s federally funded Wisconsin Coastal Management Program. According to Evers’ office, the grant funding will support projects totaling more than $3.4 million.
Recipients include government entities, regional planning commissions, universities and nonprofits. Funded projects include educational initiatives, community planning, technical assistance, habitat restoration and more.
Evers notes Wisconsin’s more than 800 miles of Great Lakes shoreline are “critical gateways” to the state, supporting jobs, fresh water access and recreation.
“Many of these communities are experiencing every day the harmful effects of climate change, erosion, and flooding, and this year’s grants will help tackle many of the challenges faced by our coastal communities while creating solutions for the future,” he said in the release.
See the full list of funded projects: https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/WIGOV/2023/05/30/file_attachments/2512257/Coastal_2023-24_GrantAwardsList.pdf
See the release: https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/gov-evers-announces-1-4-million-in-grants-for-wisconsins-coastal-communities-2
— Two Wisconsin companies have been presented with export achievement awards by federal officials.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo this week announced awards for 24 companies and organizations that helped expand U.S. business in markets around the world.
Croix Valley Foods of Hudson was one of 11 recipients of the “E” Award for Exports, which recognizes a sustained increase in export sales over a four-year period. This company makes barbecue sauces, marinades, steak sauces and other products.
Meanwhile, Stevens Point-based Gamber-Johnson was one of seven recipients of the “E” Star Award for Exports, all of which previously won the “E” Award for Exports and reported for more years of export growth. The business manufactures mounting equipment for electronics.
See the full list of awardees:
— Federal lawmakers from Wisconsin and other states are urging the Canadian government to address a “breakdown” of operations at the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.
In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the lawmakers noted the commission hasn’t convened in more than a year and regular programming hasn’t been set since November 2020. The commission coordinates cross-border fishery management and efforts to control invasive species in the Great Lakes.
“This situation is beyond troubling and, frankly, unacceptable,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter is signed by GOP U.S. Reps Mike Gallagher, Bryan Steil, Glenn Grothman and Tom Tiffany, among others.
They wrote the commission’s issues stem from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, which is responsible for Canada’s obligations to the commission.
Although Trudeau earlier this year announced Canada will invest $420 million over the next 10 years into the Great Lakes, the lawmakers say they’re “concerned that this development, although positive, is not indicative of the permanent change that is necessary to safeguard the Commission’s operations in the long-term.”
See the letter: https://debbiedingell.house.gov/uploadedfiles/230606_q_gltf__letter_to_canadian_pm_re__glfc_governance_request_final.pdf
See more in a release from Gallagher’s office: https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/u-s-rep-gallagher-great-lakes-task-force-call-on-canada-to-address-great-lakes-fishery-commission-operations
— The CEO of Madison-based financial services firm TruStage, Robert Trunzo, plans to retire in October.
This announcement comes amid ongoing contract negotiations between the company and members of the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 39 chapter. Union members recently suspended a two-week strike against the company, citing progress in talks continuing into this week.
The board of directors for TruStage, formerly called CUNA Mutual Group, has appointed former Allstage executive Terrance Williams as Trunzo’s successor. He will take over as president and CEO when Trunzo steps down Oct. 1, according to a release.
See more: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2023/trustage-announces-ceo-retirement-and-successor/
<br><b><i>Top headlines from the Health Care Report…</b></i>
— Marshfield Clinic Health System is adding occupational information to its health records with a goal of better understanding its patients.
And U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and a bipartisan group of lawmakers are introducing a bill aimed at boosting access to cancer screening services.
<i>For more of the most relevant news on COVID-19, reports on groundbreaking health research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com.</i>
Sign up here: http://forms.gle/o8FtqTLviGJPja8C9
#TOP STORIES#
# Law may prevent Wisconsin from using $78M in federal funds to build publicly-available EV charging stations
# Fairchild chef reflects on Beard win: ‘I wanted this for Madison’
# Longer renewal times, other changes eyed to speed up Wisconsin licensing delays
#TOPICS#
# AGRIBUSINESS
– Wisconsin’s wetlands remain protected despite Supreme Court decision
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=565&yr=2023
– Wisconsin’s soy checkoff funds AI research to boost farmers’ profitability
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=566&yr=2023
– Dairy respondents worried about land
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=568&yr=2023
# CONSTRUCTION
– A development plan in downtown’s Park East area is no more. County is seeking new ideas.
– Atwood Avenue project has been a pain, but relief is coming
# ECONOMY
– Uline to add 200 jobs in Kenosha County
# EDUCATION
– MMSD will give staff 8% base wage increase for 2023-24
– Madison leader Juan Jose Lopez’s death ‘a shock and great less’
# ENVIRONMENT
– Air quality alerts in Wisconsin due to Canadian wildfires
– State avian ecologist says the bird flu outbreak may be the worst ever seen for wild birds in the Midwest
# HEALTH CARE
– Wisconsin Assembly bill would let pharmacists prescribe birth control
– Meningitis vaccine requirement blocked by Republican-led Legislature
# MANUFACTURING
– New Third Ward beer garden, more Leinenkugel’s beer and Lakefront supports pride: Beer Biz MKE
– MGS Manufacturing acquires Danish consultancy and development company
# POLITICS
– Wisconsin Senate to take up bills targeting unemployment benefits
# REAL ESTATE
– West Allis could spend $30 million as an incentive for Three Leaf Partners apartment development
# RETAIL
– Giannis and his brothers are opening Antetokoundbros Shop at Trade Hotel
# SMALL BUSINESS
– West Allis startup Workshift looking to revolutionize gig work for hospitality industry
# SPORTS
– As new Milwaukee Bucks head coach, Adrian Griffin could be an asset on business side
# TECHNOLOGY
– Fiserv rings NYSE opening bell, starts work on downtown Milwaukee headquarters
# PRESS RELEASES
<i>See these and other press releases:
https://www.wisbusiness.com/press-releases/ </i>
Marshfield Clinic Health System: Now including occupation in patient health record
