Wildeck Inc. is undergoing a $1 million renovation project at its 150,000-square-foot Waukesha facility located at 405 Commerce St.
The project, which is expected to be completed in the spring, is intended to help the manufacturer reach its projected goals of doubling its revenue and hiring 100 people in the next four years.
To kick off the renovation, the manufacturer of storing, lifting and guarding products held a “wall busting” event on Sept.9. Leadership officers from Wildeck and its parent company, Holden Industries, as well as Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly swung sledgehammers to bring down the first wall.
“The facility is quite dated,” said director of marketing Hubert Schlegel. “We need a complete renovation if we’re going to attract top talent to the company.”
The building, which Wildeck has occupied for 39 years, will not be physically expanded, but Schlegel said the interior will be renovated and previously unused space will be turned into offices. Among the other renovations are a new mezzanine, bathrooms, conference rooms and carpeting.
“The end result will really be something everyone will be happy with,” Schlegel said. “It will be a more attractive and modern facility when we’re having new employee recruits in here for interviews.”
Wildeck currently has 150 employees, and about 10 of them were hired over the last few months.
Schlegel declined to disclose the company’s annual revenue, but he said the growth of the company is due to the construction of new distribution centers around the country that use mezzanines in their facilities. Other strong areas for the business, he said, are the automotive and pharmaceutical industries.
Milwaukee-based Creative Business Interiors is doing the renovation work.