Direct Supply Awarded $22.5M Tax Credit For Milwaukee Expansion

A Milwaukee company that supplies equipment and services to senior living facilities has been authorized to receive up to $22.5 million in tax credits to help add about 800 jobs over the next seven years and expand its global headquarters on the city’s north side.

Gov. Scott Walker announced the tax credits for the company, Direct Supply, Thursday and said the money the company receives is dependent upon the number of jobs created and retained through 2023. The company has more than 1,100 employees.

“They have (to) maintain that workforce,” Walker said. “To earn the full amount, they have to add up to 800 or more of those jobs and they have (to) be at that rate of well over $30 an hour — remarkably good wages for jobs here in the city of Milwaukee.”

Walker said under an enterprise zone set up by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Direct Supply will also have to meet targets for employee training.

The city of Milwaukee is providing real estate and zoning to help with the company’s expansion, which will include a five-story office building and a medical office and wellness clinic for employees and their families.

Direct Supply is about five miles away from the Sherman Park neighborhood—the site of recent unrest after the police killing of Sylville Smith—where many residents say more jobs are needed.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said he hopes the jobless will apply to work at the company.

“There are hundreds of jobs,” Barrett said. “They go up and down the skill level, and I would encourage people to contact the business to see what’s available for them.”

An economic study projects the expansion will generate more than 500 additional jobs in the region, on top of the required additional jobs, according to a press release from the governor’s office. Over a five-year period, those 500 jobs are expected to create $33 million in additional state income tax revenue, the release stated.

Barrett, Walker and some state cabinet secretaries plan to announce additional economic and workforce development efforts for Milwaukee on Friday.