Direct Supply Inc., a senior living industry supplier based on Milwaukee’s northwest side, will invest $9 million in a renovation of the German-English Academy building on the Milwaukee School of Engineering Campus.
MSOE President John Walz announced Monday the company plans to “renovate and modernize” the building, located at 1020 N. Broadway, as it expands its existing technology center there.
The technology center, which opened in 2012 as a way to connect MSOE computer engineering and business students with internships and experience working for Direct Supply, has served as a talent pipeline for the company as it has expanded its e-commerce and technology solutions services in recent years.
Direct Supply initially occupied the building’s fourth floor and later expanded to the third floor. Now, it’s occupying the entire 48,000-square-foot building. The renovation will include all four floors.
Walz announced Direct Supply’s renovation plans Monday at a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the start of construction on MSOE’s new Dwight and Dian Diercks Computational Science Hall at 1025 N. Milwaukee St. The new building, which is backed by a $34 million gift from alumnus and regent Dwight Diercks and his wife Dian, will house the school’s new computer science program, with a special focus on artificial intelligence, deep learning, cyber security, robotics, cloud computing and other next-generation technologies.
Direct Supply’s expanded technology center will have a symbiotic relationship with the new computational science hall, which will also have designated corporate partnership spaces for companies to rent office space, collaborate with students and faculty, and use the building’s graphics processing unit-accelerated supercomputer, Walz said.
“The (Direct Supply technology) center will provide opportunities for MSOE faculty and students to work alongside Direct Supply personnel in the development of new technologies for assisting senior citizens and many of those projects will no doubt take advantage of the powerful capabilities that our new Dierks Hall will provide,” he said.
