BRILLION, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Ariens Company is turning the old Brillion Iron Works property into an early learning center.
The site was home to the Calumet County foundry for more than one hundred years.
It shut down in 2016, leaving nearly 300 people without work.
Ariens Company bought the property shortly after, and the foundry was torn down.
Now, nearly four years later, the site will be inhabited once again.
“It started probably about two years ago. I was in a meeting with a lot of our manufacturing leaders and we were talking about what ideas do we have to really retain our employees and attract future talent? Daycare rose to the top of the list,” Ariens Company Vice President of Human Resources Steve Servais said.
Ariens Company and KinderCare are collaborating to build the Brillion Early Learning Center.
The center will have a capacity for 96 students and 25 additional spots for before and after school care.
Local leaders and employees at Ariens Company say that they hope the early learning center will not only be an asset to the company but a draw to the community as well.
“It makes a big difference and we hope that they grow, stay here, live here, work here and be good citizens of the city of Brillion,” Brillion Mayor Mel Edinger said.
Servais tells FOX 11 the hope this center will help lead them into becoming ‘Destination Brillion.’
“A lot of our employees come from out of town and we want to try to turn that tide and get employees to start living in Brillion, going to school here as well, so it’s an opportunity to get more people to actually stay here.”
The Brillion Early Learning Center is set to open in the fall of 2021.
