Milwaukee Tool Shows Off More Than Just Tools At NPS 2014
Milwaukee Tool invites us to come see their new products each year. At their 2014 New Product Symposium, they showed us more than 50 new products, including Red Lithium 5.0 amp hour batteries, the M18 Fuel 7-1/4″ Circular Saw, and M18 Fuel Bandsaw, There was a lot more to it than just tools, however. Don’t get me wrong, the tools were the stars of the show, but the people at Milwaukee Tool showed me that there’s more to their life in Milwaukee than just tools.
I took a 2 hour walk around downtown Milwaukee when I arrived. I got to see part of the campuses of Marquette University and Milwaukee School of Engineering. Milwaukee Tool actually hires quite a few of their engineers from MSOE. As I had the chance to chat with a few of their engineers, it became obvious just how talented those professionals are.
I also noticed that there are a lot of abandoned industrial buildings, many from the brewing industry, that seem at first glance seem to bring down the looks of the city. A closer look reveals that the culture of innovation that Milwaukee Tool exemplifies is part of the culture of the city as well. Some of these old breweries have been converted into apartment buildings and condos. Others have been converted into hotels—like the Brewhouse, where we had the pleasure of staying. This building in particular kept some of the old brewing kettles as part of the structure and used it to celebrate the brewing history of the city. The city is also dotted with churches that feature some beautiful architecture and seem to be as old as the city itself.
As I walked towards Lake Michigan, I took a path leading down to Veteran’s Memorial Park. At one point, after turning a corner, I looked forward and back to find that I was surrounded by trees on a path that reminded me more of a mountain trail than the downtown industrial section of a major city.
Other local companies were part of the Symposium and experience as well. Local coffee roaster, Colectivo, prepared a special roast for us to take home. Colectivo shares a commitment with Milwaukee to provide the highest quality product. They must be doing a good job considering that I saw a Colectivo coffee shop at the airport before the first Starbucks managed to make an appearance. Pabst Blue Ribbon was also on board along with several other smaller local breweries to give us the chance to sample their contribution to Milwaukee’s culture.
These companies pulled together to make sure that we had the chance to not only experience Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp, but also the city and culture of Milwaukee as well. I learned something through that process. Milwaukee Tool does make high quality products and indeed pushes disruptive innovation. However, from the engineers and project managers to the president of the company (who was sporting a Milwaukee Hole Dozer temporary tattoo on his neck by the end of the event), Milwaukee Tool is about much more than just tools. They’re more than just a company that happens to be headquartered in Milwaukee. They’re part of a community that they genuinely love and are as ingrained into the culture of Milwaukee as the brewing industry and snow storms.
See more of our coverage of the 2014 Milwaukee Tools Media Event.
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