MILWAUKEE—After nearly two-and-a-half years of serving its national portfolio of clients via a virtual work arrangement, podcast production agency Podcamp Media is thrilled to open its doors, with its launch of a state-of-the-art podcast studio in historic downtown Milwaukee. 

Podcamp Media’s new company headquarters and podcast production studio is located in the Colby Abbot Building, 759 N. Milwaukee Street, Suite #600 in downtown Milwaukee. Business hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and by appointment.

“The renaissance taking place in downtown Milwaukee is something of which we’re proud to be a part,” said Podcamp Media president and founder Dusty Weis, a 2003 Monroe High School graduate. 

“As a podcast studio whose work has already received national recognition, we feel like we have a lot to contribute to the diverse and growing vibrance of Milwaukee’s downtown,” Weis added, “while also offering local brands an opportunity to tell their story to customers and stakeholders via high-quality podcast production in a specially-tailored recording environment.” 

Launched in the summer of 2019, Podcamp Media is a Milwaukee-based media production agency specializing in branded podcasts for businesses. Using high-production value on-demand audio, supporting video and social media, Podcamp helps companies and associations engage their customers and members through targeted storytelling. 

Podcamp Media’s flagship Lead Balloon Podcast was recognized by industry-leading publication Adweek as its “2020 Marketing Podcast of the Year,” and Podcamp was profiled last spring in a column for Forbes. Clients include globally-recognized brands like Nutrien Ag Solutions, SurePayroll, the National Corn Growers Association and the State of Wisconsin Investment Board. 

Weis had originally planned to open a brick-and-mortar podcast studio in Spring of 2020; however, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic put those plans on hold until this summer. 

“Two years was a long time to be doing professional podcast production out of my home studio, especially with a couple of toddlers stomping around upstairs,” Weis said. “Our team members, our clients and I have found creative ways to ‘make it work’ up to this point, and we will continue to offer hybrid virtual work arrangements. But it is a relief to finally have a studio where we can record, collaborate, and show off all that Milwaukee has to offer when our out-of-town clients come to visit.”  

“Downtown Milwaukee has the entertainment scene. It has an incredible restaurant culture. We’re right on the streetcar line. Honestly, there’s nowhere we’d rather be,” Weis said.

Podcamp’s studio build-out was supported by a $10,000 Wisconsin Tomorrow – Main Street Bounceback Grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The program is intended to provide one-time assistance to new and existing businesses opening a new location or expanding operations in a vacant commercial space. 

“I’m very grateful to the state, national and local leaders whose foresight and support made it possible for us to receive this Bounceback Grant,” Weis said, “especially the staff and leadership at WEDC for the well-organized application process and quick disbursement of grant funds, and Milwaukee Downtown BID #21 for supporting our application.”  

“Podcamp Media is a great example of how an independent, creative Wisconsin company can make an impact well beyond our borders,” said WEDC Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes. “We’re pleased to be able to support a small business with big goals, and excited to see what happens next for a growing company that celebrates its Wisconsin storytelling heritage so proudly.”

“In downtown Milwaukee, we’re building a thriving business ecosystem that offers a unique array of business models and services,” said Matt Dorner, Economic Development Director of Milwaukee Downtown BID #21. “Now, we can finally add ‘podcast studio’ to that list as well, and we think Podcamp Media will fit right in here.”

Weis said that he had hoped to christen the new podcast studio with a grand opening celebration, but, due to space constraints and the COVID-19 Delta variant surge, that will not take place this fall. He is tentatively planning an open house in the spring. Visit podcampmedia.com for more information, and sign up for Podcamp’s email newsletter at podcampmedia.com/leadballoon for open house updates.

Media members and visitors are welcome to make an appointment for a tour. Vaccination or mask-wearing will be strictly enforced as a precaution against COVID-19. 

Podcast production and editing are already underway at the new studio for Podcamp’s slate of clients. 

And earlier this month, Weis hosted Milwaukee Bucks Senior Vice President Alex Lasry as his first in-studio interviewee for a discussion about the team’s 2020 walk-out in support of social justice awareness. That conversation will be broadcast in the November 2 edition of Lead Balloon.

Follow @PodcampMedia on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and watch for a series of videos and interviews with local leaders which will be landing soon on social media to show off the new facility and highlight the exciting things taking place in Milwaukee’s downtown.