We are excited to welcome Thomas Cox as Client Services Director. Thomas will work closely with the Executive and Business Development teams to strengthen and grow our client relationships. As former Executive Director of Sauk County Economic Development, Thomas brings extensive experience in economic development, business growth, and relationship management. In his new role, he will focus on building and maintaining relationships, identifying new business opportunities, and helping Kraemer Brothers continue to grow. We would also like to welcome Kyle Anderson as the new Safety Director. Kyle brings a wealth of experience from his tenure with other general contractors and will use it to provide strong leadership to our safety program. He will also lead and develop safety and health initiatives, train employees, and help facilitate return-to-work and worker’s compensation programs. Additionally, Kyle will be performing frequent site safety audits. Thanks for joining the team, Thomas and Kyle!

Reedsburg Area Medical Center (RAMC) held its ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new primary clinic earlier last week. With an aging Physicians’ Clinic and an uptick in rural healthcare needs, RAMC decided to invest in a new primary clinic rather than renovate an outdated facility. After receiving responses from its annual Community Health Needs Assessment, RAMC pinpointed critical areas of need. Designed by EUA, this clinic expands primary care services, including behavioral health, women’s health, diabetic care, and family practice. Walk-in care and a pharmacy have also been incorporated in this innovative facility. After touring multiple healthcare facilities, RAMC has decided to implement a self-rooming process for patients. Under this system, patients register for their appointment in a centralized lobby and are assigned an exam room. Upon entering their designated exam room, providers are notified that they are ready. This eliminates multiple waiting rooms and adds privacy to each appointment. Integrated care team areas foster collaboration between nurses and providers and offer quick access between offices and the exam rooms. The overall goal is to improve the patient’s experience in an otherwise anxious environment.

ABC of Wisconsin honored Kraemer Brothers with four awards at the annual Projects of Distinction awards banquet. The Projects of Distinction Awards are designed to celebrate the best construction projects built by ABC of Wisconsin’s members. Nominations were first judged on each project’s safety record, then evaluated on other features, including craftsmanship, execution and coordination, scheduling, overcoming difficult or unusual challenges, owner satisfaction, and overall distinctiveness. The projects awarded at the banquet include Usona Institute Campus, Burnett County Public Safety Facility, and Royall School District Addition. Kraemer Brothers also received the Build on Merit award, which recognizes the dedication to support merit shop philosophy.

For more information about each project, make sure to check out each project portfolio!

A dream of many parishioners 20 years in the making, St. Peter Catholic Church is starting a renovation project. Located on Madison’s north side, this facility was originally intended to be a catholic school, however, was converted to a parish center. The sanctuary, which was designed as a gymnasium, will be renovated with new windows, flooring, a reredos wall, baldachin, altar, pendant lighting, and furnishings. Existing crowded offices will be remodeled to a user-friendly and efficient open office area. In the gathering space, partition wall dividers will be removed and replaced with fixed walls, creating a seating area and a new entrance to the sanctuary. Outside the facility, both entryways will receive canopy towers to enhance the appearance and create a more visible and inviting entrance. The first phase of this project, completed in September 2024, consisted of exterior site improvements, constructing a new ADA-compliant ramp, and stair replacement. The aggressive three-month schedule is aiming to finish in time for Palm Sunday.  Plunkett Raysich Architects is providing architectural and interior design for this project.

Located in the Culver Community Park complex, The Village of Prairie du Sac, in partnership with the Sauk Prairie Area Chamber of Commerce and the Sauk Prairie School District, held a groundbreaking ceremony for new developments in the park. This ceremony marked the construction of a new early learning center and the completion of Phase II of Culver Community Park. This new center will feature 13 classrooms, accommodating infants, toddlers, and preschool-aged children. Geared to start in the spring of 2025, Culver Park is planning to move forward with four new turf fields for baseball and softball, playgrounds, and expanded amenities, making it a regional destination for sports tourism. Founded in 2020, Culver Community Park offers year-round recreations opportunities and events for all ages and abilities.

The long-awaited Dellshire Hotel project is starting up. Located on a rocky site, extensive excavation and rock blasting was needed. Meanwhile, a substantial 600-cubic yard concrete pour for a mat slab footing was recently completed. This 245,500 square foot resort features a medieval theme. Upon entering the resort, a monumental fire-breathing dragon welcomes visitors. When driving up to the porte cochère, gas lit torches carry out this unique theme. The exterior of the building features a combination of stone masonry, corbels, engineered siding, and cathedral windows, while the unique roof style brings you back to centuries long ago. Inside, a grand lobby includes another dragon, enclosed by a watery moat. Stairs with forged iron railings lead to the first-floor suites. Occupying the lower level and ground floor is a two-story family entertainment center. Located adjacent is a restaurant that is reminiscent of the Middle Ages. Meeting spaces with an outdoor deck are situated on the west wing of the ground floor. 204 guest rooms occupy the rest of the ground floor and the above three stories. Hot tubs, a swim-up bar, and pools are also included at this luxurious resort. Future phases include village buildings, treehouses, and canopy walkways.

Wisconsin Battery Company is breaking ground on a new battery factory in Portage. This 66,500 square foot manufacturing plant will include space dedicated to production, shipping/receiving, administration, and material storage. The lobby, cafeteria, locker room, and offices occupy the front of the facility, while the cathode, zinc, wastewater, fabrication, and coating rooms surround the open production area. Designed for expansion capability, future phases include a warehouse expansion at the rear of the building and additional buildings on site. The structural system of the facility will be comprised of structural steel to hold photovoltaic solar panels, which are planned to be installed in the future. Unique to this battery factory, the batteries produced will use hemp fiber. In general, the hemp’s woody pulp strands will become carbonized into thin nanosheets and combined with sodium ions. In everyday lithium batteries, lithium ions are conductive with graphite (a form of carbon). In this case, sodium ions will replace the lithium ions and the carbonized hemp will replace graphite. The advantages of hemp fiber and sodium-ion relates to higher energy density, lighter batteries, lower costs, and environmental friendliness. Wisconsin Battery Company will start with zinc-air hearing aid batteries and then focus on household batteries, rechargeable tool batteries, and eventually EV batteries.

A new library expansion is coming to Sun Prairie. Measuring 23,400 square feet, the new addition will add space for age-designated collections, youth programs, community gathering space, a media center, and will improve accessibility to the facility. The new main entrance leads into a curved glass atrium where residents can gather and meet. Glass windows, aligned on both the north and south sides of the addition, and skylights bring natural lighting into each room. Photovoltaic solar panels will be installed on the roof, harvesting daylight, and a geothermal system will heat and cool the building. The existing 35,500 square foot library is also scheduled to be remodeled. Split into four phases, the first phase will consist of constructing the addition, while the phases after that will make their way throughout the existing facility. Exterior site improvements consist of a new amphitheater, exterior patio, native plantings, and walking trails.

Since our first project in 2015, Kraemer Brothers and Klondike Cheese Company have partnered on over 14 projects. Our 15^th project starts this month. Consisting of a 4,900 square foot vertical expansion, this new addition will feature HR offices, conference rooms, records storage, and an open office with cubicles. When we constructed the first-floor locker room and break room addition six years ago, it was specifically designed for this expansion. Each end of the addition features staircases, one of them open and the other enclosed. Also included in this project is a silo alcove and pads for four additional silos. Klondike Cheese is a pioneer in Wisconsin’s signature dairy industry and has embarked a massive expansion plan in the past decade. Future building projects include a dry storage warehouse, renovating their existing plant, and adding administrative and production space.