changes while maintaining its production heritage. “Historically, our bread and butter has always been manufacturing and it continues to be our strength,” Tegen notes.“We’re currently mostly at capacity with our original industrial park, and we’re working on that next phase to make sure that we can accommodate larger businesses that are looking at our area.” The city council allocated over $1 million for infrastructure development at a new 90-acre industrial park near Interstate 43, addressing capacity constraints as existing facilities fill up. Mayor Justin Nickels emphasized the proactive approach: “We’re trying to be proactive and think long-term before that completely fills up.” Food processing represents another growth sector. “We have a very strong aspect of food industry, whether that’s canning or freezing or other processing of food products,”Tegen says.“That’s another strength that we’d like to focus on and continue to grow and expand.” Wisconsin leads the nation in food product machinery manufacturing, with over 3,700 food and beverage companies statewide. Beyond traditional manufacturing, Manitowoc is cultivating emerging sectors.“We have a fairly strong medical sector that we’re continuing to support, and then we’re looking at some initiatives to try to further enhance our technology sector,” Tegen explains. “I would consider it more software and that end of the technology versus the construction of technology components.” The diversification strategy aligns with statewide trends showing manufacturers increasingly adopting automation and digital technologies. 6 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 07
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