A global power tools manufacturer’s first service hub in Indiana is up and running in Greenwood, and the governor stopped by Thursday to see it in action.
Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp. is the world’s leading manufacturer of professional power tools, and its new 150,000-square-foot service hub in at the Southtech Business Park started operations this week.
The Brookfield, Wisconsin-based company manufactures heavy-duty power tools, hand tools, storage and accessories for professional construction trades worldwide. It will compliment the company’s other service hub in Greenwood, Mississippi, and will be the manufacturer’s first location in Indiana. Both facilities service customers around the country.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb attended a ribbon-cutting Thursday morning at the Greenwood service center.
<a href="http://www.dailyjournal.net/wp-content/files/sites/9/2021/05/6094181a85b5e.image_.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1630704" src="http://www.dailyjournal.net/wp-content/files/sites/9/2021/05/6094181a85b5e.image_-300×217.jpg" alt="Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers and Gov. Eric Holcomb sit in the crowd Thursday at the grand opening of the Milwaukee Tool service hub in Greenwood. Photos by Emily Ketterer | Daily Journal" width="300" height="217" /></a> Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers and Gov. Eric Holcomb sit in the crowd Thursday at the grand opening of the Milwaukee Tool service hub in Greenwood. Photos by Emily Ketterer | Daily JournalMilwaukee Tool is a "perfect fit" for Greenwood and the state, Holcomb said. Indiana has had a record-breaking year for job growth, and companies such as this have the right tools to continue to promote that development, he said.
Milwaukee Tool will bring 450 new jobs to Greenwood in the next four years, and it invested $6.75 million in the service hub. The company hired 120 employees to start operations this year.
"We too are looking at how we’re going to meet the needs of building when we’re doing that like never before," Holcomb said. "Obviously you’ve got to be equipped to do that, and obviously you’ve got to have the right tools in your tool belt."
Milwaukee Tool’s Greenwood facility was a big investment for both the city and the state, which offered more than $5 million in combined incentives.
Greenwood offered the company $78,000 in cash incentives. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered it up to $4.5 million in conditional tax credits, and up to $500,000 in training grants, due to the company’s plans to create hundreds of jobs.
"We have become a hub — a dream hub, quite frankly — for distribution," Holcomb said. "When you talk about logistics and you talk about manufacturing, those things are not just key to us, but they determine our destiny as a state, too."
Greenwood is booming with economic development, said Mayor Mark Myers, who also spoke during the ceremony on Thursday. The city created about 5,500 new jobs in the last 12 years, he said. Milwaukee Tool joins the ranks of Ulta Beauty, Pitney Bowes, Amazon and FedEx — all companies that have located to Greenwood in the last several years.
"The momentum on the southside is great," Myers said. "We’re proud to have Milwaukee Tool as a part of that with the technical jobs and the training."
Holcomb echoed Myers’s sentiments that the growth in the area, and around the state, is incredible.
"When I stop and think about, on a daily basis, just the construction around here in Greenwood, and you look around in Johnson County … it is incredible what’s going to occur, how the landscaping is going to change," Holcomb said.
Myers said not only is he excited to see Milwaukee Tool bring jobs and serve as a hub for the state, he is also looking forward to the training partnerships the company has with Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis, the University of Indianapolis and Central Nine Career Center, which serves high school students and adult education programs in Johnson and Marion counties.
Through these programs, the company will work with students to better prepare them for the workforce. They will learn everything from mechanical and electrical skills to troubleshooting and critical thinking, Myers said.
Shane Moll, president of power tools for Milwaukee Tool, said the company is looking forward to growing its partnership with Greenwood and the state. Working with the three area schools is a way for the company to get involved in the community immediately, and have a hand in creating a "world class" workforce, he said.
"We want to ensure we put measures in place to be active in the community, and make sure that we’re developing the most exceptional talent that we can," Moll said.
