Skip to main content
Providing Lean Leadership and Education in Milwaukee
Pepper Construction is pleased to announce the successful launch of the first fully sanctioned Lean Construction Institute (LCI) Community of Practice (CoP) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company partnered with Advocate Aurora Health Care to initiate the Milwaukee CoP – a collaborative forum of educational and networking events for designers, builders, trade partners, owners and Lean professionals to share, learn and explore innovation in the Milwaukee construction community aimed at reducing waste and adding value to project performance.
“We initiated the Milwaukee CoP with an owner who recognized the value of being Lean,” says Karen Newhouse, Senior Project Manager, Pepper Construction, and Leader of the Milwaukee CoP. “We want to create a robust community to increase the adoption of Lean principles, which offers a tremendous opportunity for consistent outcomes, improved planning and management of resources, important bonds across all organizational levels, and more value extracted out of every dollar our clients invest.”
To raise awareness and strengthen implementation of Lean principles and practices, the Milwaukee CoP provides academic, applied and experiential learning opportunities that engage members at any point in their development of Lean mastery and is building a Lean network to better connect people and ideas.
“The Milwaukee CoP has been officially sanctioned by the LCI in just eight months. This is a huge accomplishment, and momentum is building,” says Victoria Navarro, Regional Director of Planning, Design and Construction, Advocate Aurora Health, and Vice-Leader of the Milwaukee CoP.
What started as a lunch between two Lean Practitioners, this newest CoP has grown to a diverse community of nearly 300 professionals throughout southeastern Wisconsin, including those just embarking on Lean to seasoned Lean professionals across the design and construction industry.
“LCI is thrilled to welcome Milwaukee as the newest CoP to the LCI Communities of Practice organization! I have very high hopes for this CoP, as the response generated thus far has been tremendous,” says Denise Erminger, Manager, Communities of Practice Relations, LCI.
For more information about joining the Milwaukee CoP, please visit: www.leanconstruction.org/local-communities/milwaukee.
About Pepper Construction
Now in its fourth generation of family leadership, Pepper offers clients a unique blend of Wisconsin-based local relationships and service paired with the resources of a leading national construction firm. Based in Milwaukee's Third Ward, Pepper serves clients in healthcare, mixed-use, senior living and corporate office and interiors, among others, and leads the industry in Sustainable and High Performance Construction, as well as Lean Construction and Virtual Technologies. Ranked by ENR magazine as the 2019 Midwest Contractor of the Year and one of the top builders of sustainable projects in the nation, Pepper’s Sustainable and High Performance Construction group is part of their Integrated Construction Services team, which represents some of the most advanced thought leadership in the industry – investigating new technologies, evaluating new methodologies and integrating innovative solutions in the field. Other recent projects include IKEA Oak Creek, Corners of Brookfield, St. Rita’s and Silverspot Theaters at Corners of Brookfield. For more information, please visit www.pepperconstruction.com.
About Lean Construction Institute
Founded in 1997, LCI is a non-profit, membership-based organization with a vision to transform the built environment through Lean implementation. With common language, fundamental principles and basic practices, LCI aims to increase stakeholder satisfaction and project delivery value. The design and construction industry’s productivity level has remained nearly stagnant in 50 years as other industry’s thrive, but LCI sets out to improve the industry by facilitating continuous education through their Transforming Design and Construction book series, Lean instructional training courses, and the annual LCI Congress and Design Forum. LCI advocates for using a variety of tools and techniques that help promote collaborative planning, waste elimination and work-site safety. For more information, please visit www.leanconstruction.org.
About Advocate Aurora Health Care
Advocate Aurora Health Care is one of the 10 largest not-for-profit, integrated health systems in the United States and a leading employer in the Midwest with more than 70,000 employees, including more than 22,000 nurses and the region’s largest employed medical staff and home health organization. A national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care, the system serves nearly 3 million patients annually in Illinois and Wisconsin across more than 500 sites of care. Advocate Aurora is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies and is nationally recognized for its expertise in cardiology, neurosciences, oncology and pediatrics. The organization contributed $2.1 billion in charitable care and services to its communities in 2018. We help people live well. For more information, please visit www.advocateaurorahealth.com.
###