Milwaukee’s ambition to become a hub of water research and technology — aiming to lure new jobs and investment to the metro region by harnessing its stable of existing water-tech industries — reaches a milestone Thursday:

Cutting the ribbon for a seven-story, $22 million, 100,000-square-foot technology and business incubator. Its name, etched into its glassy entryway, reflects the scale of the region’s dreams: the Global Water Center.

According to its organizers, the converted 107-year-old warehouse on the city’s near south side is the most ambitious and complex undertaking to date in the effort to enlarge the region’s foothold in the $500 billion-a-year international market for systems that test, treat, monitor, conserve and transport water.

View the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel