Editing Milwaukee (section)

==Economy==

===Early economy===
[[File:The menomonee valley in milwaukee 1882.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The [[Menomonee Valley]] in 1882]]

Milwaukee was situated as a port city and a center for collecting and distributing produce. Some of the new [[immigrants]] who were settling into the new state of Wisconsin during the middle of the 19th century were wheat farmers. By 1860, Wisconsin was one of the major producers of wheat. [[Rail transport]] was needed to transport this grain from the wheat fields of Wisconsin to Milwaukee's harbor. Improvements in railways at the time made this possible.<ref>{{cite web|title=Milwaukee History|url=https://milwaukeehistory.net/education/milwaukee-timeline/|access-date=May 4, 2024}}</ref>

There was intense competition for markets with [[Chicago]], situated across the state line in [[Illinois]], and, to a lesser degree, with [[Racine, Wisconsin|Racine]] and [[Kenosha]] in Wisconsin. Eventually, Chicago won out due to its superior financial markets and transportation position, including the [[Chicago Portage]] and being the hub of the railroad lines in the United States. Milwaukee did solidify its place as the commercial capital of Wisconsin and an important market in the Midwest.<ref name="milwaukeehistory.net" />

Because of its easy access to Lake Michigan and other waterways, Milwaukee's [[Menomonee Valley]] has historically been home to [[manufacturing]], [[Meat packing industry|stockyards]], [[Rendering (food processing)|rendering plants]], [[shipping]], and other [[heavy industry]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Menomonee River Valley – History|url=https://www.thevalleymke.org/history|access-date=March 2, 2021|website=Menomonee River Valley|language=en-US}}</ref> Manufacturing was concentrated on the north side, with a peak of over 50 manufacturers in that industrialized area.<ref name="master">{{Cite news|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=June 29, 2023|access-date=June 29, 2023|language=en-GB|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/29/master-lock-milwaukee-plant-closure-manufacturing-holdout|title=Master Lock's Milwaukee plant to close after 100 years and send jobs abroad|first=Michael|last=Sainato|oclc=60623878|issn=1756-3224}}</ref>

[[File:Mounds of coal, catwalks, and barges at the Milwaukee Western Fuel Company coal docks, 12-1942 - NARA - 535923.jpg|thumb|Milwaukee Western Fuel Company coal docks, 1942]]

Reshaping of the valley began with the [[railroads]] built by city co-founder [[Byron Kilbourn]] to bring product from Wisconsin's farm interior to the port. By 1862 Milwaukee was the largest shipper of [[wheat]] on the planet, and related industry developed. [[Grain elevator]]s were built and, due to Milwaukee's dominant [[German American|German immigrant population]], [[breweries]] sprang up around the processing of [[barley]] and [[hops]]. A number of [[tanneries]] were constructed, of which the [[Pfister & Vogel]] tannery grew to become the largest in America.

In 1843 George Burnham and his brother Jonathan opened a [[brickyard]] near 16th Street. When a durable and distinct cream-colored brick came out of the clay beds, other brickyards sprang up to take advantage of this resource. Because many of the city's buildings were built using this material it earned the nickname "Cream City", and consequently the brick was called [[Cream City brick]]. By 1881 the Burnham brickyard, which employed 200 men and peaked at 15&nbsp;million bricks a year, was the largest in the world.

[[Flour mills]], packing plants, breweries, railways and tanneries further industrialized the valley. With the [[marsh]]lands drained and the [[Kinnickinnic River (Milwaukee River)|Kinnickinnic]] and [[Milwaukee River]]s dredged, attention turned to the valley. Along with the processing industries, bulk commodity storage, machining, and manufacturing entered the scene. The valley was home to the [[Milwaukee Road]], [[Falk Corporation]], [[Cutler-Hammer]], [[Harnischfeger Corporation]], [[Chain Belt Company]], [[Nordberg Manufacturing Company]] and other industry giants. Early in the 20th century, Milwaukee was home to several pioneer [[brass era]] [[automobile]] makers, including Ogren (1919–1922).<ref>{{cite book|last=Clymer|first=Floyd|title=Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925|location=New York|publisher=Bonanza Books|year=1950|page=153}}</ref>

===Brewing===
{{further|Beer in Milwaukee}}
{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | total_width = 230
 | image1 = Miller Brewery.png
 | caption1 = The [[Miller Brewing Company|Miller Brewery]], viewed from the Wisconsin Avenue Bridge, was founded in Milwaukee in 1855.
 | image2 = Milwaukee July 2023 087 (Pabst Brewery Complex--The Malt House and On Tap).jpg
 | caption2 = The former [[Pabst Brewery Complex]] was closed in 1997 and later renovated into a mixed-use complex.
}}

Milwaukee became synonymous with [[Germans]] and [[beer]] beginning in the 1840s. The Germans had long enjoyed beer and set up breweries when they arrived in Milwaukee. By 1856, there were more than two dozen breweries in Milwaukee, most of them owned and operated by Germans. Besides making beer for the rest of the nation, Milwaukeeans enjoyed consuming the various beers produced in the city's breweries. As early as 1843, pioneer historian James Buck recorded 138 taverns in Milwaukee, an average of one per forty residents. Today, [[beer hall]]s and taverns are abundant in the city, but only one of the major breweries—[[Miller Brewing Company|Miller]]—remains in Milwaukee.<ref name="milwaukeehistory.net">{{cite web|url=http://www.milwaukeehistory.net/milwaukee_timeline/1800s.html|title=Milwaukee County Historical Society – Milwaukee Timeline 1800s|publisher=Milwaukeehistory.net|access-date=July 2, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610215529/http://www.milwaukeehistory.net/milwaukee_timeline/1800s.html|archive-date=June 10, 2010}}</ref>

Milwaukee was once the home to four of the world's largest beer breweries ([[Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company|Schlitz]], [[Valentin Blatz Brewing Company|Blatz]], [[Pabst Brewing Company|Pabst]], and Miller), and was the number one beer producing city in the world for many years. As late as 1981, Milwaukee had the greatest brewing capacity in the world.<ref name="Breweries Shut Off Tap">{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-04-01-8501180549-story.html|title=Milwaukee Loses 'Beer Capital' Title as Breweries Shut off Tap|website=Chicago Tribune|date=April 1985|access-date=April 25, 2021}}</ref> Despite the decline in its position as the world's leading beer producer after the loss of two of those breweries, Miller Brewing Company remains a key employer by employing over 2,200 of the city's workers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.millerbrewing.com/images/inthecommunity/pdf/millerWIimpact.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060822162035/http://www.millerbrewing.com/images/inthecommunity/pdf/millerWIimpact.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 22, 2006|title=Connected to Wisconsin – its people and its economy|publisher=Miller Brewing Company|date=February 2005}}</ref> Because of Miller's position as the second-largest beer-maker in the U.S., the city remains known as a beer town. The city and surrounding areas are seeing a resurgence in microbreweries, nanobreweries and brewpubs with the craft beer movement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.jsonline.com/entertainment/beer/demand-for-better-beer-foments-a-new-brewery-boom-in-milwaukee-b99723919z1-386980631.html|title=Demand for better beer foments a new brewery boom in Milwaukee|website=Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel|access-date=February 9, 2017|author-first1=Kathy|author-last1=Flanigan}}</ref>

The historic Milwaukee Brewery in "Miller Valley" at 4000 West State Street, is the oldest functioning major brewery in the United States. In 2008, [[Coors Brewing Company|Coors]] beer also began to be brewed in Miller Valley. This created additional brewery jobs in Milwaukee, but the company's world headquarters moved from Milwaukee to Chicago.

In addition to Miller and the heavily automated [[Leinenkugel's]] brewery in the old Blatz 10th Street plant, other stand-alone breweries in Milwaukee include [[Milwaukee Ale House|Milwaukee Brewing Company]], a microbrewery in [[Neighborhoods of Milwaukee#Walker's Point|Walker's Point neighborhood]]; [[Lakefront Brewery]], a [[microbrewery]] in Brewers Hill; and [[Sprecher Brewery]], a German brewery that also brews craft sodas. Since 2015, nearly two dozen craft brewing companies have been established in the city.<ref name="Late">{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/travel/brewstraveler/ct-milwaukee-craft-breweries-travel-0611-20170526-story.html|title=Late to the craft beer scene, Milwaukee's small brewers are a big hit|first=Josh|last=Noel|website=Chicago Tribune|date=June 2017|access-date=March 16, 2019}}</ref><ref name="22 New">{{cite web|url=https://www.milwaukeemag.com/brewery-boom-new-milwaukee-breweries/|title=Welcome to Milwaukee's Brewery Boom: 22 New Breweries to Try|first=Dan|last=Murphy|website=milwaukeemag.com|date=January 28, 2019|access-date=March 16, 2019}}</ref>

Three beer brewers with Wisconsin operations made the 2009 list of the 50 largest beermakers in the United States, based on beer sales volume. Making the latest big-breweries list from Wisconsin is [[MillerCoors]] at No. 2. MillerCoors is a joint venture formed in 2008 by Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Co. and Golden, Colorado-based [[Molson Coors Brewing Company]]. The [[Joseph Huber Brewing Company|Minhas Craft Brewery]] in [[Monroe, Wisconsin]], which brews Huber, Rhinelander and Mountain Crest brands, ranked No. 14 and [[New Glarus Brewing Company]], [[New Glarus, Wisconsin]], whose brands include Spotted Cow, Fat Squirrel and Uff-da, ranked No. 32.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2009/04/13/daily23.html|title=Three state breweries make largest list – The Business Journal of Milwaukee|publisher=Milwaukee.bizjournals.com|date=April 14, 2009|access-date=July 2, 2010}}</ref>

===Present economy===
[[File:Rockwell Automation Headquarters.jpg|thumb|[[Rockwell Automation Headquarters and Allen-Bradley Clock Tower]]]]
Milwaukee is the home to the international headquarters of seven [[Fortune 500]] companies: [[Johnson Controls]], [[Northwestern Mutual]], [[Fiserv]], [[Manpower Inc.|Manpower]], [[Rockwell Automation]], [[Harley-Davidson]] and [[WEC Energy Group]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://host.madison.com/business/ten-wisconsin-companies-make-the-fortune-list-for/article_b0bf5377-7fa6-5eef-95bb-1deb8a3352e8.html|title=Ten Wisconsin companies make the Fortune 500 list for 2013|author=Judy Newman – Wisconsin State Journal|date=May 10, 2013|work=madison.com}}</ref> Other companies based in Milwaukee include [[Briggs & Stratton]], [[Brady Corporation]], [[Baird (investment bank)]], [[Alliance Federated Energy]], [[Sensient Technologies]], [[Marshall & Ilsley]] (acquired by [[BMO Harris Bank]] in 2010),<ref>[https://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2010/12/20/marshall-ilsleys-shotgun-marriage/ Marshall & Ilsley's Shotgun Marriage – Deal Journal – WSJ]. Blogs.wsj.com (December 20, 2010). Retrieved on July 12, 2013.</ref> [[Hal Leonard]], [[Direct Supply]], [[Rite-Hite]], the [[American Society for Quality]], [[A. O. Smith]], [[Rexnord]], [[Master Lock]], [[Marcus Corporation]], [[REV Group]], [[American Signal Corporation]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aosmith.com/about/Locations/Locations.htm|title=A.O. Smith|access-date=March 23, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081024140701/http://www.aosmith.com/about/Locations/Locations.htm|archive-date=October 24, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[GE Healthcare]], Diagnostic Imaging and Clinical Systems, and [[MGIC Investment Corporation|MGIC Investments]]. The Milwaukee metropolitan area ranks fifth in the United States in terms of the number of [[Fortune 500]] company headquarters as a share of the population. Milwaukee also has a large number of financial service firms, particularly those specializing in mutual funds and transaction processing systems, and a number of publishing and printing companies.

Service and managerial jobs are the fastest-growing segments of the Milwaukee economy, and [[health care]] alone makes up 27% of the jobs in the city.<ref>{{cite web|title=Milwaukee's 10 largest employers|url=http://www.uwm.edu/Course/448-440/employers.html|date=2004|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012193317/http://www.uwm.edu/Course/448-440/employers.html|archive-date=October 12, 2007|website=UWM.edu|access-date=February 28, 2022}}</ref>