Office of African American Affairs
Affordable land and leasing costs, abundant fresh water, an educated workforce, low business costs and easy access to financing, technical assistance and efficient transportation have helped local businesses succeed and grow.
Find information about things to do and happenings in the City of Milwaukee.
Environmental Collaboration Office
To date, the City has invested in 18 renewable energy projects, including solar electric, solar hot water, and a wind turbine.
These projects are part of a broader initiative by Mayor Tom Barrett to reduce energy consumption in City facilities. The City of Milwaukee is also participating in the US Department of Energy's Better Buildings Challenge, which will further reduce energy use and costs to taxpayers while improving the entire community.
Below is a list of the City's current installations:
On May 8, 2015, OES, Milwaukee Shines, Alderman Terry Witkowski, Simon Landscaping and the Garden District Neighborhood Association unveiled Milwaukee's newest solar installation - the solar flower - at the Garden District Farmers' Market and Community Gardens at the Green Corridor.
Funded by a grant from Milwaukee Shines, the solar flower will power outlets in stalls at the farmers' market and will power the pump that provides the community gardens with water from the rainwater stream.
The 1.5 kW solar flower is just one of the many green features in the Green Corridor. Other features include green infrastructure to capture and manage storm water runoff, solar-powered pedestrian crossing signs and a solar-lighted bus shelter, an urban orchard, a recycled rainwater stream and community gardens.
Check out the solar flower for yourself by visiting the Garden District farmers' market!
Riverside High School and Bayview High School have developed a friendly learning partnership, facilitated by the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee Shines. Highlights of the swap, completed in 2012, included:
The program was funded through a Recovery Act "Special Projects Award" for solar market transformation through the US Department of Energy Solar America Cities.
Riverside High School
The school is located at 1615 E. Locust St. in Milwaukee. Installation included a solar electric system with products made by companies located in the Menomonee Valley: Helios Solar Works for solar panels and an Ingeteam inverter.
Bayview High School
Pictures below show the installation of the project at the school, which is located at 2751 S. Lenox St. A solar hot water system with components from Caleffi Solar in Milwaukee was installed. The project was featured in an article in the Bayview Compass.
Cream City Farm is a brownfield redevelopment that transformed an environmentally impacted site in Milwaukee's 30th Street Corridor into a 1.25 acre urban farm incorporating large installments of bioswales, a 40,000 gallon cistern for rainwater harvesting and a pole mounted solar installation to power the pump so the farmer, David Johnson, can pump water from the cistern to water his crops.
Partners on this project included: the City of Milwaukee, the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee Shines, HOME GR/OWN, MMSD, EPA, GZA, City of Milwaukee Strong Neighborhoods, UW Extension, Reflo and Arts @ Large.