MILWAUKEE — The flashing lights and bright yellow signs at crosswalks, the stop signs in your neighborhood, and the wrong-way signs near the interstate are all manufactured in Milwaukee County by a company called TAPCO.
"Our ten-year vision as a company is to save a million lives through a million connected devices," said Andy Bergholz, co-owner at TAPCO.
Bergholz is a third-generation co-owner of the family business. The company focuses on intelligence, infrastructure and education while creating solutions to dangerous road problems. TAPCO works with city leaders to figure out what's needed.
"Anything you see driving down the road, with the exception of the concrete on the road, we pretty much support or service in one way, shape or form," said Bergholz.
From warning signs to those radar trailers that call drivers out for speeding, those who work at TAPCO are working to stay ahead of the curve when delivering solutions to reckless, distracted and dangerous driving.
Watch Ryan Jenkins explain his story:
"Innovation can be the difference between life and death with our customer base," said Morgan Marks, the company's Director of Product Strategy. "For speeding, for wrong way driving, for making sure people are yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks, we have different solutions and technologies for each of those that we use."
He says while getting to develop cutting-edge tools using radar and solar technologies is awesome, the meaning behind his work is deeper than that.
"You come to understand that what we build here helps get loved ones home safely," Marks said.
And when it comes to ending reckless driving, those at TAPCO say while it might be easy to focus on solutions in the public-sector and with politicians, local private companies like TAPCO are leading the way in using technology to improve behavior on the roads.
"Every one of our products is here to help save lives," Marks said.
