Clearwater Piers makes waves with Northwoods location opening

Rich Palzewic

Staff

April 13, 2026

RHINELANDER – According to the Rhinelander Area Chamber of Commerce, roughly 232 lakes lie within 15 minutes of downtown, while Oneida County has about 1,129 lakes in total – 429 named and 701 unnamed.

With so many lakes nearby, Bryan Gill – owner of Madison-based Clearwater Piers – said opening a Northwoods location in “Hodag land” was a natural choice.

Gill said Clearwater – which designs, sells and services docks, piers and waterfront accessories for lakefront properties – recently opened an office at 166 S. Stevens St. to offer customers more options.

“I love it in the Northwoods,” he said. “As a kid, I used to fish Lake George in Rhinelander, so the area has a little sweet spot in my heart. I was really excited to find an [available] storefront location because that’s pretty hard to do anywhere up there because there’s not a lot of available space.”

With Clearwater locations in Madison and now Rhinelander, Gill said it’s not out of the question that more satellite offices – or even additional manufacturing space – will pop up in the state.

“I want to build the company,” he said. “I believe in the product and want to share it with others. It is on the books to possibly expand into other areas as well, but I really want to make Rhinelander successful first.”

Easy to install, built to last

With three employees at the Madison location, Gill said Clearwater manufactures all its piers in house, receiving steel on site to cut, shape and weld before sending it out for galvanization – a common industrial process that protects steel or iron from corrosion by applying a zinc coating.

He said the process is essential to extend the lifespan of metal components, especially those exposed to harsh environmental conditions.

“Once the galvanizing is complete, we bring it back to the facility,” he said. “We’re a small team, but we are efficient.”

With a majority of Clearwater’s business being through direct sales, Gill said most often, clients will contact the company directly for a sale.

“They’ll say, ‘Hey, I’m interested in this length of pier and want a seating area this large,’” he said. “We do all the design for them, and typically, they pick up the product. We also now deliver statewide on larger orders.”

Because Clearwater’s piers are easy to install and remove, Gill said direct sales play a major role in the company’s success.

“If you’re somewhat handy or know someone who can help, they are very easy to install and remove,” he said. “[At a previous job], I used to install 200 piers in the spring and remove 200 in the fall, so I know what it’s like to put in and remove a dock – that’s why I really wanted an easy system.”

Gill said another advantage of Clearwater’s piers is their stability and durability, thanks to a hot-dipped galvanized frame that clients say lasts for years.

“They’re strong, but they are also lightweight,” he said. “The frames only weigh 55 pounds, so that’s another reason why our piers are easily installed and taken down – they’re stable and safe. All of these factors are good selling points for prospective customers.”

Gill said he offers a lifetime warranty on the frame because he believes in the product – a feature he called “very rare in the pier community.”

Most aluminum pier companies, he said, only offer about a 15-year frame warranty.

“We offer a lifetime frame warranty, and we stand by that,” he said. “I haven’t been in the business that long, but there was a pier brought in last year that was probably about 45 years old.”

Gill said a frame weld had worn from years of exposure, and Clearwater repaired it for the owner at no charge.

“That obviously puts customers’ minds at peace, knowing they have a quality product that’s built to last,” he said.

Partners also key to success

Gill said most of Clearwater’s sales come directly from customers, but the company relies on its “amazing” Wisconsin partners to support further growth.

With about 10 dealers statewide, he said the Northwoods area is serviced by three partners.

“The Rhinelander location will work with Thiel Enterprises out of Boulder Junction, Dock Bros in Tomahawk and Pelican Piers in Pelican Lake,” he said. “With those locations, we have a triangle wrapped around Rhinelander, which is very nice.”

Gill said clients who don’t want to install or remove a pier – which is necessary in Wisconsin’s freezing winters – can turn to Clearwater’s Northwoods dealers for assistance, where they can also purchase the company’s products.

A career in the pier industry

With his family owning property on Lake Waubesa near Madison for more than a century, Gill said he has seen the joys and frustrations of living on the water.

Those trials and tribulations, he said, eventually led to the start of Clearwater.

“I started a business almost 20 years ago, installing and removing piers,” he said. “I did that for several years, and then I started to sell piers. There was one pier in particular, called Wickcraft, that I liked a lot. I started by selling that product to my clients.”

After 11 years as a Wickcraft dealer, Gill said he purchased the pier division, letting Wickcraft focus on boardwalks – founding Clearwater seven years ago.

“I had to change the name from Wickcraft to Clearwater because they are still operating as Wickcraft,” he said. “Clearwater is my own. This same style of pier has probably been manufactured for at least 40 years.”

Taking over Clearwater just before COVID-19, Gill said the business performed exceptionally well during the pandemic.

“It was good timing for me, but unfortunately, many other businesses couldn’t say the same,” he said. “But there were other industries like ours that did well during those times.”

After taking over, Gill said he revamped operations, as the previous company had six employees and a different production process.

“Those six employees would work heavily for three or four months to produce the product but then would be laid off,” he said. “We manufacture year round, so everybody stays busy, happy and relaxed in a stress-free environment.”

For more information on Clearwater Piers, visit clearwaterpiers.com or its Facebook page.