MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee-based company Baird has been authorized as the naming rights partner with the Wisconsin Center, the Board of the Wisconsin Center District announced Friday.
The 15-year agreement will begin when the expanded convention center opens in May 2024. A new logo for the venue, which will be renamed Baird Center, will be revealed at the project’s topping off ceremony on April 11.
“The WCD leadership team and I are dedicated to leveraging our core values to Be Bold. Be Proud. Be Experience Obsessed. to guide every business decision we make,” WCD President and CEO Marty Brooks said in a statement. “Since our Board trusted our bold vision and authorized the expansion project in 2020, we knew that a naming rights agreement would follow. The ideal naming rights partner would be homegrown, have a world-class reputation and, for the greatest possible success, share our core values and commitment to the city of Milwaukee. Baird meets and exceeds those qualifications and will give our convention center, and our city, yet another spectacular reason for visitors to add Milwaukee to their list of not-to-be-missed destinations.”
Baird is a financial advisory firm that was founded in 1919.
“This agreement fits with our ongoing efforts to build Baird’s brand across our global footprint and reflects our longstanding commitment to giving back to the communities where we live and work,” Baird Chairman and CEO Steve Booth said in a statement. “The new state-of-the-art convention center will enhance Milwaukee’s growing reputation as a modern, forward-looking city, and we are honored to support and be part of its success.”
The Wisconsin Center expansion, a $456 million project, broke ground on Oct. 28, 2021. Upon completion, the combined north and south buildings will house 52 meeting rooms, a 300,000-square-foot exhibit hall, 22 total loading docks, a 400-stall indoor parking garage and a new rooftop ballroom with outdoor terraces.
The expanded venue will also include quiet rooms, nursing mother’s rooms, dedicated gender-neutral restrooms and a public art program telling the story of Milwaukee.
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