New facility will accommodate rapid growth at Wisconsin Vision
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Staff Writer
When Wisconsin Vision Association was founded in 1982 by Dr. Robert and Judy Fait out of their home on Kings Court in Burlington, little did they know how much the business would grow.
Employing just four people at its onset, the company provided corrective vision help. Now, the company has nearly 200 employees, and has expanded to the point where it is bursting at the seams at its current location at 139 West Chestnut Street.
The company has received preliminary approval from the city and town of Burlington, as well as Racine County, to move forward with a plan to build a new facility on West State Street near United Methodist Church.
Owner Christopher Fait said the company needs to move forward with the expansion in order to fulfill its mission statement of diversifying its business units.
“This facility will be built to accommodate those future needs,” he said.
Fait and WVA is working with The Peter Scherrer Group in not only acquiring the property, but satisfying contingencies – including studies of the land and environment and feasibility – so they can purchase the land.
Leslie Scherrer said one of the major contingencies – receiving approval of rezoning of the property – was obtained through the town and Racine County in June, and just a few final steps remain before everything is in place.
“We hope to do that in the coming weeks and acquire the land later this summer,” Scherrer said. “We will be moving forward with the project.”
Fait said the company looked at a number of different sites before choosing the one on State Street.
“We knew we wanted to stay in the greater Burlington area, and needed a location that would accommodate a building of this size and also allow for easy travel to and from the post office without the possibility of train delays,” he said. “This site met those needs.”
The site will create more space for employees, and encompass all the corporate offices and the centralized distribution center.
With the new facility, the company is expecting to add 30 jobs annually – 15 full time and 15 part-time. There is a sales force in 22 different states in distributing contact lenses to nearly 2,500 locations.
Scherrer said, if all goes well, the company could break ground on the project this fall and complete the project in the fall of 2014.
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