South Milwaukee Business Expansion Success Stories
DBHW Wealth Partners
1125 Milwaukee Avenue
Founded in 1989, DBHW Wealth Partners, a full-service tax, accounting, and wealth management firm, embarked on an expansion project in 2020. They acquired two dilapidated buildings to their east and expanded their staff and their footprint by 12,000 square feet. In all, the project was a greater than $1 million investment in downtown South Milwaukee.
“Expanding our space in South Milwaukee was necessary for our firm’s continued growth and exciting future. We are grateful to our founder, Diane Burger, for choosing South Milwaukee as a location for DBHW,” said Chuck Winn, Senior Wealth Planner for DBHW Wealth Partners. “Since renovation, our local headcount tripled from 9 to 27, with room for many more. The open-concept provides our team with a collaborative work environment, an exercise room, additional offices and a first-class event space.”
Steele Solutions
1117 East Rawson Avenue
Steele Solutions, a manufacturer of steel work platforms and mezzanines, started in Waukesha in 1996. In 2021, the company began operating at the former Bucyrus campus in downtown South Milwaukee. In 2023, they moved their corporate headquarters to South Milwaukee from Franklin, WI. Today, their operations occupy more than 285,000 square feet and they have made more than $12 million in capital improvements.
“Moving our corporate headquarters and structural fabrication to South Milwaukee and the Rawson campus has helped us increase our ability to automate the manufacturing process and align our entire business with our core values,” stated Steele Solutions CEO Kevin O’Neill. “We are proud to call South Milwaukee home.”
Styled Aesthetic
1135 East Rawson Avenue
Styled Aesthetic, a screen printing and graphic design business, first started operating in South Milwaukee in 2012. They had been occupying 3,000 square feet at 918 Milwaukee Avenue until they had the opportunity to move to the former Bucyrus campus in downtown South Milwaukee in 2022. With the move, they nearly tripled their square footage to 8,600.
“The City of South Milwaukee provided us with a great base to properly grow our company when we moved into our first commercial location in 2012. When we outgrew our space on Milwaukee Avenue, we wanted to stay in the city, and the Bucyrus campus gave us the opportunity to increase our square footage and customize the space to our new needs. This flexibility has allowed us to double our revenue in the year and half that we have been in our new location,” said Steve Welk of Styled Aesthetic. “We could not be happier to have our business based in South Milwaukee and are looking forward to another decade here.”