Several Fox Cities companies keep the region’s transportation system on the move.
The Fox Cities region has a strong transportation system in place, and several area companies specialize in manufacturing products that keep this industry on the move.
One such company is Utility Sales & Service Inc., or USSI, which manufactures custom-made trucks used to build and service electrical infrastructure, such as power lines and street lighting. Their product lineup includes bucket trucks, digger derricks, sign trucks, service trucks and hydraulic cranes.
Custom-Made Manufacturing
“Our customer base is largely electric utilities as well as local and state governments, contractors, telecom businesses, signage companies, and more,” says Ted Breidenbach, USSI owner and CEO.
The company’s trade area includes Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois. Among its customers are We Energies, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, and the cities of Appleton, Menasha, Madison and Milwaukee.
In 2023, the company acquired Romeoville, Illinois-based Power Equipment Leasing, adding rental equipment sales to its business portfolio.
“For our custom-made new vehicles, we expect to increase manufacturing capacity by one-third in 2024, and we expect to double our overall production by 2026,” Breidenbach says. “We are pleased to see such strong growth in our business, and the Fox Cities region has been great for us.”
Elevating Private Aviation
Also enjoying success and growing its transportation-based presence in the region is Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., which designs and manufactures private jet aircraft for businesses and individuals. Located at Appleton International Airport for more than 25 years, the company completed a $40 million expansion of its Appleton Service Center in 2019, where Gulfstream employees conduct maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations on customers’ aircraft.
The Appleton Service Center includes hangar space that can accommodate 12 Gulfstream ultra-large cabin aircraft, while an on-site showroom gives customers access to Gulfstream’s design team and portfolio. The company also has a completions facility at the airport where Gulfstream employees outfit aircraft interiors.
Gulfstream made further news in late 2023 with the opening of a $55 million paint hangar building at the airport, which has the capacity to paint the exteriors of up to 48 aircraft per year.
“The continued expansions are in response to the increased demand Gulfstream has been experiencing,” says Ron Aldrich, Gulfstream Appleton vice president and general manager. “These investments have also created additional jobs at the facility, which now employs more than 1,200 – and we are still hiring.”
Building Tools That Save Lives
Fire trucks are built to live up to the demands of firefighters and the communities they serve. Pierce Manufacturing has production plants in Appleton and Neenah, Wisconsin, and Bradenton, Florida. Founded in 1913, the company makes fire trucks, including pumpers, aerials, tankers, rescue units, electric fire trucks, and advanced technology innovations incorporated into firefighting apparatus.
“Our mantra is ‘Work That Matters’ because we manufacture the fire apparatus and equipment used by the firefighters who run into burning buildings that you and I are running out of,” says Stephen Kohler, Pierce Manufacturing’s director of human resources. “We build the tools to save lives and property.”
Kohler says the products manufactured by Pierce Manufacturing have been shipped to customers on every continent, including Antarctica. “Here in the Fox Cities, we build custom fire trucks – literally starting with a flat piece of metal and eventually constructing and fabricating the chassis, cab, body and more,” he says. “Most of our customers are municipalities and fire departments throughout North America, but we also build trucks for oil refineries and U.S. military bases.”
Kohler adds the North American market for fire apparatus has grown about 50% from 2020 to 2022 and order activity remains strong. This growth helped lead to the company’s expansion.
“We recently completed a 90,000-square-foot expansion in Appleton and a 60,000-square-foot expansion in Neenah, and our company now has 2,600 employees in the Fox Cities,” he says. “This region is known for its skilled workforce, and we work closely with other community partners to keep a top workforce pipeline coming to Pierce Manufacturing.”
Appleton International Airport Undergoes Expansion to Better Serve Passengers
The statistics are soaring at Appleton International Airport (ATW), which set a one-year record in 2023 for handling nearly 968,000 passenger arrivals and departures, a more than 14% increase from the prior year. A new Outagamie County impact study scheduled for 2025 is expected to show that ATW now contributes more than $1 billion annually to the Fox Cities regional economy.
With sights set on eventually serving as many as 1 million passengers a year, the airport broke ground in November 2023 on a $66 million expansion to add 47,000 square feet to its main concourse, says Jesse Funk, Appleton International Airport’s air service and business development manager. Construction should be completed by late 2025.
The last expansion at the airport took place in 2001. Funk says a key part of the current expansion will be adding four new gates with jet bridges that can accommodate larger commercial planes.
“Back in 2001, airport officials never dreamed that we would be serving the large planes of today, so most of our current gates can’t handle the loading and unloading of passengers onto these larger planes,” Funk says. “For example, Allegiant is now flying big 186-passenger Airbus planes that can only use a couple of our current gates. The addition of the four new gates is greatly needed.”
Today, commercial airlines flying at Appleton International are Allegiant, American, Delta and United, and the airport supports more than 3,000 jobs. While the primary geographic region ATW serves stretches from Wrightstown to Waupaca and down to Fond du Lac and over to Manitowoc, the airport sees passengers from as far away as Rhinelander and Houghton, Michigan.
“This expansion is great for our future as this airport continues to get busier every year,” Funk says.
By Kevin Litwin on August 21, 2024
Livability Magazine
