Cedarburg pump company gives back to community
Cedarburg pump manufacturer Wilo USA recently donated nearly $17,000 and more than 1,250 pounds of food to Family Sharing of Ozaukee County in Grafton to help those affected during the coronavirus pandemic.
The global company wants to pay it forward to its hometown community since it recently inked a deal to remain in Cedarburg for years to come.
“We can be very thankful that we work for a company like Wilo and we’re all getting our paychecks everyday,” President and CEO Jeff Plaster said. “There are a lot of people whose families haven’t been able to get their paychecks for the last few months, and we thought we should do something for other people during these stressful times.
“Our people really care about the community where we live and work.”
Director of Sales Michael Moffett said the original equipment manufacturing company wanted to give back to the community during the Covid-19 pandemic to help support area residents who are out of work. He approached Plaster to see if the company would match up to $10,000 in donations if all employees were onboard.
The company has 200 employees at its Cedarburg facilities and also many remote workers throughout the nation who helped support the cause for Family Sharing and other similar organizations outside of Wisconsin.
“It’s heartwarming to experience people wanting to do good for others, not for any reason other than believing it’s the right thing to do and genuinely caring about others. It was individuals that thought about others in need, rallied their coworkers and created a nation-wide group of people who worked together to make an impact,” Executive Director of Family Sharing of Ozaukee County Julie Hoover said. “They helped people in every location where they do business. We are amazed and deeply grateful.”
In total, the company raised more than $22,000, of which $5,000 went to other charitable organizations throughout the country.
“We have a lot of remote employees in other states and we encouraged them to donate local,” Moffett said.
It’s not the first time Wilo has helped with a good cause. Last year, Wilo donated more than $100,000 to the Cedarburg School District’s STEM program, and in past years it has been a sponsor of the Ozaukee County Fair.
“Even though we are a global and national company, we try to act local as much as we can,” Moffett said.
In order to support area eateries, Wilo is ordering daily boxed lunches from local restaurants for its Cedarburg employees.
“We want the businesses to come back when all of this re-opens. The businesses we worked with for the boxed lunches are really appreciative of our orders,” Government Sales and Administrative Manager Kim Theisen said. “They are little guys and this meant a lot to them.”
Charitable contributions aren’t the only investment Wilo is making locally. On May 11, the Cedarburg City Council approved a developers agreement for Wilo to become the anchor tenant in the city’s planned business park along Highway 60 east of Five Corners. Plaster said the 250,000-square-foot facility will be the company’s new headquarters and production facility.
Plaster said the company is seeking a larger facility because it wants to house several companies it acquired in recent years in one building. Those companies include Weil Pump, Scot Pump and Wilo Machine Co.
Construction will begin this fall and Plaster plans to move into the new space by spring of 2022.
“With the new building, we’re all going to come together. We are one company with four great brands,” Moffett said. “We have been growing as an organization in the U.S. and we want to get everyone under one roof for efficiency and productivity.”
Wilo primarily designs pumps and systems for municipal wastewater treatment. Scot Pump focuses on commercial HVAC systems with clientele in the plastic, marine and military industries. Weil Pump manufactures a variety of wastewater pumps for commercial buildings and sport facilities.
“Because of Weil, we’re in every major sports stadium, university and hospital,” Plaster said, noting those pumps are used at the Cedarburg Ice Center. “We’re in Lambeau Field, Miller Park and Fiserv Forum. We’re also in the new Northwestern Mutual building and Memorial Union at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.”
Plaster said it takes about three months to design and manufacture a pump for a specific project.
“We’re a very custom business. You just can’t order a part off the shelf,” he said. “We’re selling systems and solutions as opposed to selling pumps and parts. I call it bare-knuckle marketing.”
Plaster said his business hasn’t been severely impacted by the pandemic and some of the pumps are being used at makeshift hospitals.
“Up until Covid-19, the market was really strong, but we haven’t been hit too hard overall. We are an essential product and even some of our products went to some temporary hospitals,” Plaster said. “Our orders intake is actually up across the business and we’re growing each year.”
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