MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – Mayor Tom Barrett is thanking Northwestern Mutual for hiring hundreds of local workers to build the company’s new office tower. The 32-story building opened in August and is the state’s second tallest but largest in terms of square footage. More than 40% of the tower’s construction hours were done by Milwaukee residents and workers came from every aldermanic district in the city.

The mayor says more than $127 in contracts were signed to local and small businesses for the tower, accounting for more than 30% of construction, 6% more than the city’s local construction requirement.