Wisconsin Plating Works of Racine wins Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year award

Friday, March 2, 2007 2:09 AM CST

Wisconsin Plating Works of Racine wins Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year award

BY MICHAEL BURKE

Journal Times

MILWAUKEE - Wisconsin Plating Works of Racine has won a special award for "Employee and Environmental Stewardship" at the 2006 Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Awards. The award was presented Thursday evening at the Manufacturer of the Year awards banquet at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee. Four companies each won a Grand Award for overall outstanding achievement.

Wisconsin Plating Works has two locations, 620 Stannard St. and 931 Carroll St. It was one of five firms that won special awards based on their "exemplary contributions to manufacturing in the state," according to Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, one of the three sponsors.

It was at least the second environmental award for Wisconsin Plating, which in mid-2003 received an Industrial Environmental Achievement Award from the Central States Water Environment Association. The organization includes utilities, equipment manufacturers, engineers and environmentalists.

The awards represent a huge turnaround for the formerly polluting local manufacturer. In the early 1990s, Wisconsin Plating was one of the reasons the Racine wastewater plant had to stop spreading sewage sludge on farm fields. The electro-plating job shop was violating regulations that limited toxic materials in industrial discharge water.

Heavy metals coming into the wastewater plant ended up in the sludge and it was hurting crops. The utility began sending its sludge to the landfill, because it was no longer any good as fertilizer.

But the company improved its practices and became an example of how even an old, chemically dependent industry could break with the practices of an earlier, less-environmentally sensitive era.

"They continue to be concerned and responsible corporate citizens," said Keith Haas, Racine's water and wastewater utilities manager. "That is not always easy in the plating industry."

In 2005, the Racine manufacturer bought another long-standing, 78-year-old family plating company, Racine Plating Co., which had run into bumpy times. The action saved 30 inner-city jobs.

Combined, the two companies manufacture corrosion-resistant plating for an eclectic mix of products in the automotive, agriculture, construction equipment, metal fabrication, machining, electrical and electronic controls, defense, and aerospace industries.

Thirty-nine manufacturers were nominated for this year's awards. An independent panel of judges, including leaders in business, government, education and the business media, evaluated the nominations.

The annual competition is co-sponsored by Michael Best & Friedrich, a Midwest-based law firm; accounting and consulting firm Virchow, Krause & Co.; and WMC, the state's largest business association.

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