KEI’s work with the WCD highlights a powerful partnership that combines expert landscaping, environmental stewardship and heartfelt community service.
When the Wisconsin Center District (WCD) looks to add service partners, we seek more than just quality work—we look for shared values and a deep commitment to making a difference in our community.
That’s why partnering with Kujawa Enterprises, Inc. (KEI) was an easy choice when the WCD was looking for a landscaping partner. Family-owned and employing nearly 100 local residents, KEI manages all of the landscaping needs for Baird Center, UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and Miller High Life Theatre — including mowing, hedging, gardening, snow removal and weeding — helping ensure that Milwaukee’s premier downtown venues remain beautiful and inviting throughout the year.
But KEI’s mission goes well beyond landscaping. In addition to delivering outstanding service, the company demonstrates a powerful dedication to giving back, particularly through its GreenCare for Troops initiative. This program supports families of deployed military personnel by providing full-service landscape maintenance in the summer, fall clean-up and snow removal during the winter months.
“Everyone at KEI feels that participation in GreenCare for Troops is an absolute no-brainer,” said KEI President and CEO Chris Kujawa. “When someone uses the term, ‘it’s the least we can do,’ this is a perfect example. During a deployment, these families have to deal with a mother or father not being home for months or even years at a time. Some of these deployments are putting the service member potentially in harm’s way. That’s more than enough for a family to worry about.”
“If we can help take even a little bit of stress off of a service family,” he continues, “that is literally ‘the least we can do.’ These families are both humble and proud and the appreciation they show is over the top.”
KEI’s community-first mindset is mirrored in its environmentally sustainable practices, which is another shared value. When completing the massive Baird Center expansion, we built sustainability into the infrastructure: from rooftop solar panels to in-house composting, to using recycled steel and reclaimed urban wood.
KEI supports and extends this mission in their work with the WCD. For example, when seasonal flowers, evergreens and other plants are rotated out from the exterior planters at Baird Center and our other venues, KEI ensures that the removed vegetation is composted by local companies, Certified Products and Blue Ribbon Organics. The biproduct of the composted items turns into soil which is then purchased by KEI for other landscaping projects—closing the loop in a sustainable, community-driven way.
“It’s an honor to maintain these properties,” said Kiley Cirillo, Seasonal Color Manager for KEI. “Everyone we’ve had the pleasure of working with has been wonderful, and it’s one of the sites our team especially enjoys designing for.”
The Wisconsin Center District is proud to partner with a number of Milwaukee- and Wisconsin- based businesses. We believe being part of this community means partnering with and supporting the mission of organizations that mirror our own pillars.