BRP plans to create global training center

STURTEVANT, Wis. — BRP plans to establish a global training center this year in Sturtevant, Wis., that will annually draw more than 500 dealers and technicians, according to The Journal Times. On Tuesday, BRP gained the village’s conceptual agreement to contribute money toward the plan.

Four BRP executives Tuesday evening told the Sturtevant Community Development Authority and Village Board about two initiatives the company plans for its Evinrude campus at 10101 Science Drive in Renaissance Business Park. The projects would total $700,000 or more in capital investment, and BRP seeks $125,000 in village assistance.

One project would create a training center at the BRP campus and the other is an energy-recapture system. To help nurture those plans, the CDA unanimously voted to have village staff and BRP work out a development agreement with BRP. BRP executives said the company should complete both projects by this fall.

The company has chosen to make the local campus the global technical training hub for the Americas. The training center will be built into existing space at BRP and provide training on several company products including Sea-Doo personal watercraft, Ski-Doo snowmobiles and Spyder all-terrain vehicles. They said the training center will bring in more than 500 dealers and technicians attending weeklong training sessions at BRP annually.

“People will come from all over the world,” said BRP Legal Director Michael Schroeder.

And because of the varying seasonality of the BRP products, he said, “There will be a more consistent flow of visitors.”

Racine County Economic Development Center Business Development Manager Laura Million said that number of visitors will bring an estimated $360,000 to $450,000 additional spending to the area.

The approximately 4,500-square-foot center would bring 11 new employees averaging $30 per hour in wages, BRP said. Nine of those employees will be transfers from the Wausau BRP training center, which will be closing.

The other project BRP officials described is an energy recovery plan to recapture heat from the 600,000-gallon tanks used for testing Evinrude engines made here. Jeff Wasil, BRP engineering manager for emissions, said the company will be able to recover and use in other ways more than 80 percent of the heat generated in the testing process.

Current employment at the Sturtevant campus is about 500 people. Consisting of 472,000 square feet on 65 acres, it is world headquarters for the Evinrude brand and the main showcase for worldwide Evinrude activities.

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