Innovation powers Milwaukee Toolâs growth Evolving industry Share Want to Read More? As Steve Richman describes it, changing the focus of Milwaukee Tool was the easy part. In the mid-2000s, when Richman and other new leaders arrived not long after the Brookfield-based company was acquired by Hong Kong-based Techtronic Industries, Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp., as it was known, was often focused on making âme tooâ versions of new products. âIf you think about that, we didnât really have a choice. It was innovate or die at that point in time,â said Richman, president of Milwaukee Tool. âIt was easy for the teams to start adopting it, because we were this little player out in the marketplace that had rested on our laurels with this brand that meant something in the â50s that really didnât mean anything to many users anymore.â