‘M’ is for Making

“M” is for Milwaukee, making, manufacturing… Water infuses our work. From wooden water wheels that powered the first flour mills, to freighters hauling iron ore across frigid lakes, to genomic sequencing tracking waterborne pathogens, water has always been an engine of industry, a corridor for commerce, a key ingredient in the manufacture and sale of economic goods, and the foundation for family-supporting jobs. In a truly “water-centric city,” clean water is the invisible assumption that makes the economy go. Globally, the water sector constitutes an immense industry and market opportunity across for-profit, nonprofit, academic, and governmental career fields.

Headquartered locally, Rockwell Automation serves this niche with water control systems and leads with sustainable practices, as Gary Ballesteros, Majo Thurman, and Sadhna Morato-Lindvall share. UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences graduates go on to rewarding water-related careers, as dean Val Klump notes. Wilniesha Smith explains how, together with many partners including the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, local nonprofits like Reflo Sustainable Water Solutions are helping transform Milwaukee’s schoolyards with green infrastructure and guiding a new generation to water-related trades careers. Anna Ostermeier shares the power of volunteer-driven community coalitions like Plastic Free MKE to rally together businesses committing to reducing plastic pollution. Discover how building a sustainable world is not just an “environmental” thing—it’s good business.