A fantastic article came out in The Atlantic today about what it is we do at the Milwaukee Water Council. Like the article points out, we constantly strive to promote water related business as a medium for economic development. We’re proud to be able to bring jobs and money to a city that has struggled over the years with how to distinguish itself in a post-industrial business climate. We accomplish this by asserting ourselves as an international hub for all things water related.
It all started five years ago. “I had an ah-ha moment while at A.O. Smith for a meeting,” Meeusen recalls. “I realized how similar their flow lab was to ours, and thought of the similarities in our business. They make water heaters; we make water meters. After that I started thinking about all the companies in the area that are in water technology – there are about 150, making pumps and valves and meters and the like – and I thought we could bring them together and be more successful as a collective hub.”
He founded the Milwaukee Water Council and launched an annual water summit. A couple years later, the United Nations named Milwaukee a “Global Compact City” with a focus on water. Last year, with $50 million in state backing, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee opened the country’s first-ever School of Freshwater Studies and Marquette University added a water law program.
