In April, Milwaukee Valve Company celebrated its 100th anniversary. Five entrepreneurs launched the business at the present headquarters on Milwaukee's south side, near Lake Michigan. Starting as a producer of valves for the local plumbing and heating industry, the firm's products soon found a regional market, achieving national distribution in 1954 as a subsidiary of A-P Controls Corporation, which later became the Controls Corporation of America.

Today, Herschel Seder takes great pride in his family's ownership of the company. He has been at the firm's helm for more than 40 years, and his children have played increasingly important roles in the company's success. It has almost 500 employees. It has a network of distributors in the United States, Canada, and Central and South America. Its primary production facility is located in Prairie du Sac, Wis.