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Those are: growth in health care employment and a decline in manufacturing jobs.
Trane was the county’s largest employer when Brockmiller arrived in La Crosse in 1994. Now Gundersen Lutheran and Franciscan Skemp have passed Trane to claim the top two spots, Brockmiller said.
Today, Gundersen Lutheran has about 6,000 employees in La Crosse County, followed by Franciscan Skemp with about 2,862 employees. Trane is third, with about 2,160 employees.
Trane’s La Crosse workforce peaked at about 4,200 in the early 1980s, before organizational changes such as its 1984 acquisition by American Standard Cos., the 1986 spin-off of what today is Chart Industries, the shift of some product lines to other locations and more automation.
Today’s Top 30 list also includes other health-related businesses, such as Logistics Health Inc., which was founded in 1999 and provides occupational health, medical and dental readiness, emergency preparedness and homeland security services to government agencies and corporations throughout the world.
Health care employment has grown nationwide with technology gains and an aging population that requires more services, Brockmiller said.
“And when an area becomes notable for a certain product or service, it often attracts other (similar) businesses,” he said, which also has helped increase health care employment in La Crosse County.
Notably absent from the Top 30 list is LaCrosse Footwear Inc. It had more than 1,000 employees in La Crosse in the early 1990s, but in 2001 the company closed its local factory and moved its headquarters to Portland, Ore.
Also no longer on the local Top 30 list is Fleming Cos., a grocery wholesaler that closed its La Crosse distribution facilities in 2003, with the loss of 375 jobs.
But some other local companies have grown.
La Crosse-based Kwik Trip has become the county’s seventh-largest employer, Brockmiller said, partly because of continued construction and employment growth at its local support facilities, such as the commissary that makes food products. “Kwik Trip is nothing short of an amazing success story,” Brockmiller said.
“CenturyTel has brought more regional staff here and increased their product offerings dramatically,” Brockmiller said of the county’s eighth-largest employer.
“We all realize the type of employment is changing,” said Dick Granchalek, president of the La Crosse Area Chamber of Commerce. “We’re going from a post-World War II manufacturing economy to more of a service economy.
“That’s also reflected in the aging population,” Granchalek said. “The aging population is seeking more services offered by health care and government.”
Granchalek predicted local service businesses, such as LHI and CenturyTel, will continue to see employment growth.
Steve Cahalan can be reached at (608) 791-8229 or scahalan@lacrossetribune.com.
THE TOP 10
La Crosse County’s 10 largest employers, as ranked by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development and Office of Economic Advisors, based on March 2007 statistics. Employment numbers below are current and were provided to the Tribune by employers:
1. Gundersen Lutheran: A health care system that includes Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse and other facilities in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. It has about 3,900 full-time employees and nearly 2,100 part-time employees in La Crosse County, for a total of about 6,000 employees. Systemwide, Gundersen Lutheran has slightly more than 4,200 full-time employees and about 2,300 part-time employees, for a total of about 6,500 employees.
2. Franciscan Skemp. A health care system that includes Franciscan Skemp Medical Center in La Crosse and other facilities in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. It has about 2,065 full-time employees and 797 part-time employees in La Crosse County, for a total of 2,862 employees. Systemwide, Franciscan Skemp has about 2,493 full-time and 985 part-time employees, for a total of 3,478 employees.
3. Trane: The company was founded in La Crosse. In La Crosse, it makes water chillers for commercial air conditioning products. As of June 23, its La Crosse facilities had about 2,130 full-time employees and 30 part-time employees, for a total of about 2,160 employees.
4. La Crosse public schools: The school district educates students through grade 12. It has about 1,052 employees, including about 977 full-time and 75 part-time employees. Those numbers don’t include another 150 to 200 non-staff members who help in such areas as coaching and advising.
5. La Crosse County government: The county has about 935 full-time employees and about 511 part-time employees, for a total of 1,446 employees.
6. University of Wisconsin-La Crosse: The university has about 785 full-time employees and 568 part-time employees, for a total of 1,353 employees.
7. Kwik Trip: A La Crosse-based convenience store/gasoline retailer. In La Crosse County, the company has about 1,183 full-time employees and 322 part-time employees, for a total of 1,505 employees.
8. CenturyTel: The company’s Midwest Region headquarters is in La Crosse. In the county, the company has about 762 full-time and 69 part-time employees, for a total of 831 employees.
9. Wal-Mart: The discount retailer in La Crosse County operates two Wal-Mart Supercenter stores and a Sam’s Club store. A corporate spokesman said Wal-Mart has about 780 employees in the county, but said he was unable to give a breakdown of the numbers of full-time and part-time workers.
10. City of La Crosse government: The city has about 540 full-time employees. The number of part-time employees ranges from about 220 in January to about 330 in June, so employee totals range from about 760 in January to about 870 in June.
