WED AM News: Gun manufacturer moving all operations to Wisconsin as it expands; State of the Tribes address includes call to legalize medical marijuana

March 19, 2025

— Firearm maker Henry Repeating Arms plans to move all manufacturing operations to Wisconsin after recently expanding its headquarters in Rice Lake.

In a release yesterday, the manufacturer announced its “firm commitment” to the move, which will involve transferring operations from its New Jersey plant to Rice Lake and nearby facilities in Ladysmith. In addition, the company says it’s buying a third location in Ladysmith this summer as it gears up to expand production.

The business currently employs more than 800 people across its existing locations, where it makes various rifles, shotguns and revolvers. Its specialty is lever-action firearms, and the company name references Benjamin Tyler Henry, who invented the Henry lever action rifle in 1860.

Founder and CEO Anthony Imerato says “putting all of our eggs in one basket, the Wisconsin basket,” will make the company more efficient and productive. He also says the move will enable the company’s design and engineering teams to work together more.

“With about 400,000 square feet of cutting-edge manufacturing operations in four facilities within minutes of each other, Henry Repeating Arms is well positioned for its next chapter,” Imerato said in a statement.

GOP U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany says he’s “thrilled” that the company has decided to move all operations to the state’s Seventh Congressional District, which he represents.The Minocqua Republican says the decision will create more local jobs, promote economic growth and advance the “Made in America” cause.

“Since 1996, Henry Repeating Arms has fought for Americans’ rights to bear arms, becoming one of the top five producers of firearms in the United States while simultaneously contributing to the Wisconsin economy,” Tiffany said in a statement.

The company says plans to introduce new lever-action rifles and move into other market segments, leveraging its expanded production capacity in Wisconsin. By consolidating in the state, Henry Repeating Arms says it will also streamline distribution and improve quality control.

Andrew Wickstrom, the company’s president, says its Wisconsin operations “have been essential to our success for a long time, and now it is the cornerstone of our bright future.”

See the release.

— St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin Chairman Thomas Fowler called for legalizing medical marijuana during the State of the Tribes address.

Fowler spoke before a joint session of the state Assembly and Senate yesterday to give the annual address on behalf of Wisconsin’s 11 federally recognized tribes.

Proposals to legalize medical marijuana so far have stalled in the GOP-led Legislature over past sessions.

“Overdoses have nearly wiped out a generation of our tribal nations’ mothers and fathers,” Fowler said. “Through the regulation of medical marijuana in the state of Wisconsin, we can work towards moving people out of highly addictive drugs — drugs which are killing our people.”

He also called for the state to raise water quality standards to protect the state’s waters and the fish and wild rice that inhabit them.

See more coverage at WisPolitics.

— A division of Madison-based ImageMover announced it’s expanding a colon cancer screening education program nationwide after completing a yearlong pilot program.

The company’s software platform, called Workflow Services, aims to help pharmacies “unlock their full potential” as hubs for community health care, gathering medical data from point-of-care testing.

ImageMover was created in 2013 by neuroradiologists to manage medical images through integrating with major electronic health records systems, such as Verona’s Epic Systems. It later launched its Workflow Services division after the COVID-19 pandemic led to more widespread point-of-care testing.

The program expansion announced today aims to help local pharmacies “bridge the gap” in preventive care for colorectal cancer, which has much better outcomes when identified early. Today’s release notes a fourth of Americans don’t have a primary health care provider, but 90% of Americans live within five miles of a pharmacy.

Kevin Houlihan, president and CEO of Workflow Services, says data collected from pharmacists in the pilot “shows that we are unlocking a new, impactful” channel for health care delivery. Ninety-two percent of participating pharmacists said they were better able to educate patients about colorectal cancer screening.

“Access is one of the major challenges currently confronting the American healthcare system,” Houlihan said in a statement. “And we’ve seen that by providing pharmacists with the right tools and guardrails in a platform like Workflow Services, we can make a real difference in closing care gaps and driving health outcomes.”

See the release.

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— The Universities of Wisconsin announced four finalists for chancellor of the Milwaukee campus, including two internal candidates.

The finalists are: Thomas Gibson, the Stevens Point chancellor; Carol Kim, the provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at the State University of New York in Albany; Allan Klotsche, director of the masters program at the UW-Milwaukee Lubar School of Business; and Nicolle Parsons-Pollard, the provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs at Georgia State University.

The candidates will participate in campus forums next week.

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