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based in the region include Birds Eye, Bimbo Bakeries, Campbell’s, Cargill, CocaCola, ConAgra, General Mills, Hormel, Nestlé, Pepsi, Saputo, Smucker’s, Smithfield and Tyson.

Foreign direct investment includes Agropur, Chr. Hansen, Galactic, Kerry, Kikkoman, Lallemand, Lesaffre/Red Star Yeast, Malteurop, Mondelez, Nature’s Path, Purato’s, and the recent attraction of HARIBO, along with packaging and equipment makers Krones, KHS, Seda and Sudpack

A Fast-Growing Service Sector

The service sector has been the fastestgrowing segment of the regional economy. Service-providing jobs account for more than 80 percent of all nonfarm jobs in southeastern Wisconsin. Health care and social assistance, professional and business services, retail trade, hospitality and food services, and finance/insurance are among the largest service-sector segments in the region.

Regional, not-for-profit health care system and academic medical center serving eastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois Froedtert Health 9200 W. Wisconsin Ave. Milwaukee / froedtert.com

Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin and Metropolitan Chicago

Corp. N56 W17000 Ridgewood Dr. Menomonee Falls / kohls.com

8,060

A diverse non-profit providing job training, employment placement services and community-based support programs by operating social enterprises, including selling donated clothing and household items in stores and across e-commerce platforms, serving Southeastern Wisconsin and Metropolitan Chicago

Omnichannel retailer offering national and proprietary brands in apparel, footwear, accessories, beauty and home medical school, research institution and multispecialty medical, pharmacy and graduate school of biomedical

A lodging and entertainment industries company, with company-owned real estate assets; operating through movie theater and hotel/resort segments in the U.S.

Northwestern

Milwaukee

/ northwesternmutual.com

W. Michigan St.

Group

Navigate Business MKE 34

Five Milwaukee-area service companies are ranked as Fortune 500 companies: ManpowerGroup, Northwestern Mutual, and WEC Energy Group (Milwaukee); Kohl’s Corp. (Menomonee Falls); and Fiserv (Brookfield).

ManpowerGroup is the third-largest staffing firm in the world, serving more than 400,000 clients in 75 countries worldwide. Northwestern Mutual is the nation’s leading provider of individual life insurance and a financial services firm that manages $309 billion in assets. Kohl’s is among the nation’s leading retailers with nearly 1,200 stores in 49 states.

Fiserv is one of the nation’s largest data processing firms, serving more than 10,000 financial institutions and 6 million merchant locations in more than 100 countries.

The Milwaukee Region is also home to the Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. (MGIC), which is the nation’s leading provider of private mortgage insurance; and West Bend Mutual, a leading property and casualty insurer.

Several national banks have a major presence in the Milwaukee Region, including Bank of America, BMO Harris, JPMorgan Chase, Old National, US Bank and Wells Fargo.

The region is home to significant operations for several large state and regional financial institutions, including Associated Bank, The Equitable Bank, First Citizens, Johnson Financial Group, Landmark Credit Union, Old National, PNC Bank, Summit Credit Union, Town Bank, Tri City National Bank and UW Credit Union.

Health care is a major service employer.

Southeastern Wisconsin is home to major operations for two of the nation’s largest integrated health care systems – Advocate Aurora Health and Ascension Wisconsin

The region’s other major health care providers are Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin, which operates several area hospitals in conjunction with an academic medical center, and ProHealth Care, which operates hospitals and clinics in Waukesha County.

Southeastern Wisconsin is also a leader in health care quality and research. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has consistently ranked Wisconsin among the top states for the quality of medical care delivered.

Generating Green Technologies

Southeastern Wisconsin is a nationally recognized hub for green technologies that are focused on improving water quality, reducing auto emissions and lowering energy consumption.

Built on more than a century of water innovation, The Water Council has coalesced one of the most concentrated water technology clusters in the world and has solidified its leadership in solving critical water challenges by driving innovation in freshwater technology and advancing water stewardship.

By strengthening the infrastructure needed to increase research into the world’s freshwater challenges and potential solutions, as well as supporting the region’s many water technology companies and serving as the regional partner for the Alliance for Water Stewardship in North America, it helped to build the business case for water stewardship and create the world’s first credentialing program for water professionals.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Great Lakes Water Institute is the largest research center of its kind on the Great Lakes. The university also operates the graduate-level School of Freshwater Sciences, the first of its kind in the United States, and the Center for By-Products Utilization, which focuses on using technology to find environmentally and economically effective uses for industrial byproducts and consumer waste.

For 140 years, Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls has been focused on energy efficiency. In 1883, it patented the first electric room thermostat. It is now the global leader in building technology, software and services designed to make buildings more energy efficient, healthy and sustainable. Over the years, its researchers have come up with other green solutions as well. Clarios, formerly known as Johnson Controls Power Solutions and now an independent company, is a global leader in advanced battery technologies that power one in three vehicles worldwide.

Rockwell Automation is actively involved in the development of the Internet of Things, which will increase efficiency and reduce energy consumption by improving communication between equipment and companies. Ingeteam, a Spanish-based manufacturer of alternative energy equipment, has a major facility in Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Marquette University, the Milwaukee School of Engineering and several of the region’s private-sector employers are working together to develop microgrid technologies to store renewable energy. Modine is an international pioneer in thermal management technologies.

Actuant has entered the market for power inverters, which are key to using the power generated by wind turbines and solar panels. Eaton Power Systems Division, which produces integrated, smart-grid technologies, recently expanded its South Milwaukee facility to meet the demand for the technology.

Research & Education

The Water Council connects, convenes and showcases its nearly 150 members from around the globe, providing a full range of business development services and networking opportunities and the potential to collaborate with some of the world’s most prominent water innovators. thewatercouncil.com

● Economic Development: Offers services that grease the wheels of the water technology sector by supporting global water innovators through its Pilot Program, Tech Challenge and BREW 2.0 Post-Accelerator. Its matchmaking services connect startups, Fortune 500 companies and everything in between with a goal of addressing the world’s most pressing challenges involving water quality and quantity.

● Water Stewardship: Fosters improved performance by helping water users at all points in their stewardship journey identify and mitigate water-related risks and address shared challenges and opportunities. The WAVE: Water Stewardship Verified program helps companies improve water stewardship performance, public reporting and disclosure to key stakeholders. It also provides customized advisory services to companies of all types, from data centers to dairies, that address specific water-related needs or goals. A global leader in water stewardship training, it also offers comprehensive and tailored training and capacity-building services.

Research is critical to innovation, and southeastern Wisconsin is fortunate to have major educational and research institutions. It is home to the University of WisconsinMilwaukee, a Tier 1 research center and the second-largest campus in the University of Wisconsin system with more than 26,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Milwaukee also is home to Marquette University and the Milwaukee School of Engineering, which provide critical research and prototyping services to businesses.

Medical College of Wisconsin scientists lead biomedical and population health advancements through laboratory research, clinical trials and community-engaged research. Its faculty researchers conduct more than 3,100 studies annually with more than $1.5 billion in external support for research, teaching and training.

The Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin and its affiliate, the Blood Research Institute, play major roles in research regarding immunobiology, transfusion medicine and stem cell biology. A new research building on the Milwaukee Regional Center Campus will allow Versiti to add more than 10 new investigators to study blood disorders.

Investing in Infrastructure

Connecting people to jobs and products is essential for a thriving region. Fortunately, the Milwaukee Region is well situated to leverage all of the major modes of transportation – road, rail, air and water. Three interstates – I-94, I-43 and I-41 intersect the region. Several major railroads, including Amtrak, provide freight and passenger service to southeastern Wisconsin. Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport and Port Milwaukee connect the region to the world by air and water, respectively.

MMAC plays a pivotal role in making sure the region’s transportation infrastructure serves the needs of businesses. Over the past decade, more than $2 billion has been spent to improve the interstate system in the region. This included the rebuilding of the state’s three busiest interchanges – the Marquette, Mitchell and Zoo interchanges. It also included expansion and improvements to I-94, which serves as a critical link to both Chicago and Madison.

These projects have increased development opportunities by adding entrance/exit ramps to new economic corridors. The improvements facilitated the location of a new IKEA regional store, the region’s third Amazon distribution warehouse, the Foxconn campus south of Milwaukee and numerous distribution and industrial facilities.

MMAC is currently advocating for the renovation and expansion of the I-94 expressway west of downtown Milwaukee, which is one of the last remaining chokepoints on the freeway system in the region.

Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport

Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport

(MKE) is the largest and busiest airport in the state. Located just south of Milwaukee, it serves passengers from throughout Wisconsin and northern Illinois. MKE currently offers nonstop flights to more than 30 destinations coast-to-coast, and more than 200 international destinations are available with one connection. MKE is the only airport in Wisconsin served by all major airlines: Air Canada, Alaska, American, Apple Vacations/Funjet Vacations, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit, Sun Country and United.

MKE was named the winner of a 2021 ASQ Best Airport – North America award for providing an outstanding customer experience. flymke.com

Passenger Rail

Milwaukee is served by two major Amtrak routes, providing convenient passenger service to Chicago, a major Amtrak hub, as well as to Minneapolis-St. Paul and the West. Amtrak’s Hiawatha Service is the busiest route on the Amtrak Midwest network, serving as many as 860,000 passengers annually. Several daily passenger trains connect Milwaukee with Amtrak’s national network in Chicago, where passengers can board trains to destinations throughout the country.

Milwaukee is also served by Amtrak’s Empire Builder, which provides service to Wisconsin Dells, La Crosse, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Glacier National Park on its way to Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. The city’s Amtrak station is located at the Milwaukee Intermodal Station in downtown Milwaukee. The Hiawatha Service makes a second stop, both inbound and outbound, at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. In addition, Amtrak Thruway buses connect other travelers to the intermodal station, including routes to Green Bay and the Fox Cities. Amtrak.com

The Lake Express

The Lake Express is the nation’s first highspeed auto and passenger ferry. It traverses

Lake Michigan, connecting Milwaukee with Muskegon in southwestern Michigan. The ferry’s schedule includes two roundtrips daily in the spring and fall with additional sailings in the summer. The ferry does not operate in the winter or severe weather. lake-express.com

Milwaukee’s ‘The Hop’ Streetcar

The Hop is a modern, fixed-transit network that connects the Milwaukee Intermodal Station (Amtrak passenger rail and intercity bus service) with the Historic Third Ward, the East Town business district and the Lower East Side. Proposed route extensions will link to the lakefront, Westown (including the Wisconsin Center, Fiserv Forum and Deer District), Bronzeville and Walker’s Point. All rides are free, with trains running from 5 a.m. to midnight Mondays through Fridays, 7 a.m. to midnight Saturdays, and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays. thehopmke.com

Bus Rapid Transit

Connecting Milwaukee with suburban communities is also critical. Next summer, the Milwaukee County Transit System is slated to begin the East-West Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Service that will connect downtown Milwaukee with Wauwatosa and the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center with electric buses that will use designated trafiic lanes to provide faster passenger service.