Old Dogs, New Tricks
Innovation isn’t just history at Milwaukee’s legacy companies
MILLERCOORS: New beers start with the pilot
Beer has been brewed on MillerCoors’ sprawling Milwaukee complex for more than 160 years, but this facility is as much a laboratory as it is a brewery. It’s called the pilot brewery, a small but vital operation to MillerCoors’ effort to get a leg up in an increasingly competitive beer market. ¶ Nearly all new products or line extensions, as well as packaging innovations, spring from the pilot brewery. “It allows us to react quickly,” says Megan Mares, a MillerCoors brewer. ¶ Its notable successes include the Henry’s Hard Soda and Hard Sparkling lines; Leinenkugel’s Canoe Paddler kölsch, Grapefruit Shandy and Bavarian Dunkel; Redd’s Green Apple Ale; and the Vortex Bottle that swirled Miller Lite into mouths or glasses for a few years. ¶ “There are other things that we try and miss the mark on,” Mares admits.
A.O. SMITH: A new water tech R&D hub
A.O. Smith Corp., which has manufactured tens of millions of water heaters since it was founded in 1874, is making what will be the company’s biggest commitment to R&D in decades with a new research hub at its Milwaukee headquarters. ¶ The company, which began making its now signature product in 1939, generated sales of about $2.7 billion in 2016 and has 15,500 employees worldwide, including about 125 in Milwaukee. ¶ The new 42,700-square-foot Lloyd R. Smith Corporate Technology Center will focus on advanced research and development in a rare combination of disciplines: potable and hydronic water heating, water treatment and air testing and purification, as well as prototype development. The $8.5 million facility is expected to open by the end of 2018. ¶ “Our plan is to create a hub for our engineers to be able to share their successes and challenges with one another,” says Kevin Wheeler, president and chief operating officer.
NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL: Committing to startups
A financial giant long touted as the “Quiet Company,” Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. is making noise in the technology sector.
¶ Northwestern Mutual, which has more than 5,000 employees in the Milwaukee area, recently created a $5 million venture capital fund to invest in local startups in a variety of industries. The Cream City Venture Capital Fund provides early-stage funding ranging from $100,000 to $250,000, as well as access to Northwestern Mutual advisers, mentors, technology resources and a co-working space at its sparkling new $450 million headquarters downtown. “We believe that Milwaukee has the talent and entrepreneurial spirit to be a premier city for startups,” says Craig Schedler, venture partner at Northwestern Mutual. ¶ The news comes fast on the heels of the company’s launch of a $50 million fund to invest in financial technology startups.