Manpower Inc.'s planned international headquarters in downtown Milwaukee will consolidate operations from two office

Manpower's planned international headquarters will be in downtown Milwaukee along the Milwaukee River.

buildings in nearby Glendale as well as the company's Jefferson Wells subsidiary in Milwaukee. The 280,000- sq.- ft. (26,000- sq.- m.) building will initially house 900 employees, but the company expects to grow to 1,200 within the next five years.
   The employment services company, founded in Milwaukee in 1948, never considered leaving its home city and looked at about a dozen sites in the area before settling on the proposed Riverbend Place along the Milwaukee River and near Schlitz Office Park, says company spokesperson Margaret Gerstenkorn.
   "All of the sites we looked at were based on where our employees live," Gerstenkorn says. "We weren't going out 20 miles [32 km.] from city center. About 65 percent of our employees live in Milwaukee County. The downtown site emerged as the leader. It's a dynamic site on the river's only harbor and gives us a chance to be part of the vibrance of downtown. There are a lot of amenities and entertainment venues to provide hospitality for our out-of-town clients."
   A smaller headquarters move in Wisconsin involves Bemis Co., which is moving its headquarters from Minneapolis to Neenah, Wis., about 40 miles (64 km.) southwest of Green Bay. Jeff Curler, Bemis' chairman, president and CEO, said the move is designed to bring the company's top executives closer to its largest operations.
   Bemis, a manufacturer of flexible packaging and pressure-sensitive materials used by food, consumer products and other companies, currently has 12 plants and approximately 3,400 employees based in Wisconsin.