Direct Supply plans to expand HQ, add 700 jobs
With plans to add up to 700 jobs in the next four or five years, Direct Supply Inc. is moving forward with plans to build a multi-story office building at its corporate campus located along North Industrial Road, which is east of North 76th Street, between West Good Hope Road and West Mill Road on Milwaukee’s far northwest side.
The exact size of the building has not been determined, but Bob Klein, Direct Supply senior vice president, said it will be able to hold up to 800 employees and will be built in the next 12 to 18 months. The Milwaukee-based supplier to long-term care facilities has grown its employment from 682 in 2006 to more than 1,050 now.
In 2006, the city approved spending up to $13.35 million to help facilitate the addition of 500,000 square feet of office space and up to 1,000 new jobs over 10 to 15 years. The company occupies nine buildings on Industrial Road and the plan called for the construction of connector buildings and relocation of surface parking.
The first connector building was built in 2008 and a facility on the east side of the road was converted to parking in 2010.
Froedtert to anchor medical office building planned in Brookfield
Milwaukee-based commercial real estate firm Irgens is developing a one-story, 23,600-square-foot medical office building at the former site of the Venice Club restaurant at 1905 N. Calhoun Road in Brookfield.
The building, referred to as the Calhoun Health Center, will be anchored by Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, which will lease 15,000 square feet for a health clinic for primary care, obstetrics, gynecology, maternal fetal medicine and imaging services at the new building.
There is an additional 8,600 square feet of space still available in the building for lease.
Lifetime OB/GYN, a practice brought into Froedtert & MCW health network in October, will relocate to the building from offices in Brookfield and Milwaukee.
Irgens will break ground on the development in April and plans to complete the project by December. The health center will be across the street from Brookfield City Hall and the public library.
Froedtert & MCW makes top hospitals list
A study that analyzed quality-of-care data for Medicare patients listed Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin among the nation’s top 100 hospitals for the fourth consecutive year.
Six other hospitals in Wisconsin were also listed. Froedtert & MCW was the only Milwaukee-area hospital honored.
The study, conducted by Truven Health Analytics, compared 11 metrics among nearly 3,000 U.S. hospitals, including Medicare cost reports, performance data and patient surveys. Truven has been conducting annual studies to determine top performing U.S. hospitals since 1993.
Froedtert & MCW is categorized by Truven as a major teaching hospital. There were 14 other major teaching hospitals that made the list.
PDS moving Oconomowoc operations to new facility
Brookfield-based Paragon Development Systems is moving its configuration center in Oconomowoc to a new 45,000-square-foot facility on the west side of Oconomowoc to expand capacity to meet increased demand.
The new facility is at N57 W29605 Highway 16. The company’s configuration center had been located at 1823 Executive Drive in Oconomowoc for 19 years.
The company has already begun the transition to the facility and expects to have it operational by April. The previous facility on Executive Drive was recently sold to Ad-Tech Industries Inc. of Watertown for $2.6 million.
PDS provides IT solutions, services and technologies to medium to large companies in health care, corporate and government/education industries. The company recently announced it was partnering with a Massachusetts Institute of Technology program aimed at accelerating health care technology innovation.
Metro Milwaukee YMCA CEO to resign in June
Julie Tolan, chief executive officer of the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee, will resign on June 30.
Tolan joined the YMCA in 2013 and oversaw a dramatic restructuring plan to eliminate $30 million in debt the organization accrued over two decades. The YMCA of Metro Milwaukee filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2014, sold 70 percent of its owned real estate assets and re-configured its revenue streams.
Earlier this year, Tolan volunteered to take a cut of roughly $125,000 in salary and benefits after the YMCA came up $1.5 million short of its $3.8 million fundraising goal.
The YMCA’s board of directors is forming a special committee to find a replacement for Tolan, who will continue to lead the organization over the next four months.
JCC fitness center in Whitefish Bay to undergo $850,000 upgrade
The Jewish Community Center board has approved an $850,000 renovation project at its fitness center in Whitefish Bay.
Plans call for a new entrance-way, updated equipment, a new member lounge and a new childcare center. The Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center is located at 6255 N. Santa Monica Blvd. in Whitefish Bay.
Work on the project will begin in mid-May and is expected to be completed by September. During construction, the fitness center will be temporarily moved to the Soref Community Hall, according to a website the JCC created with information about the project. Access to the Marcus Gym, indoor track, aquatic center and fitness studios will be uninhibited.
