Rockwell files zoning for New Berlin manufacturing plant

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By TOM DAYKIN

USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

Rockwell Automation Inc.‘s planned 1 million-square-foot manufacturing facility is taking another big step forward with the company filing zoning applications for the New Berlin site.

Milwaukee-based Rockwell’s filing confirms earlier reports the plant will be developed on 100 acres off South Moorland Road, between Grange and College Avenues. That area has farmland and is near other industrial facilities.

The development will undergo Plan Commission and Common Council review. It’s not on the commission’s April 15 meeting agenda; the next scheduled meeting is May 4.

Rockwell’s April 7 announcement didn’t include a timeline for when construction would start if the city approves the project.

The New Berlin plan could be the largest such facility for Rockwell, which makes industrial automation technology. It would feature advanced automation, robotics and digital technologies.

“Planning and designing this new facility gives us the opportunity to create the factory of the future,” said Chairman and CEO Blake Moret.

“We chose this location because Rockwell has had its headquarters in southeastern Wisconsin for over a century,” Moret said, in a statement, “and the area already has the highly skilled workforce and culture of innovation that’s needed to bring this technology to life.”

The New Berlin facility is part of Rockwell’s plans, announced in August, to spend $2 billion over the next five years on its manufacturing plants, talent, and digital infrastructure.