Insight on Manufacturing and the NEW Manufacturing Alliance are excited to launch NEW Manufacturing Insights, a new podcast highlighting issues and opportunities for manufacturers in Northeast Wisconsin. NEWMA and IOM are already trusted resources for manufacturers in our region, and now is your chance to get the latest news and insights from NEWMA Executive Director Ann Franz and IOM Editor Kate Bruns delivered straight to your earbuds every Thursday.
Episodes will highlight NEWMA and IOM programming and events, give you a behind-the-scenes look at IOM cover stories and features, and provide leadership tips and fun facts you can use to strengthen your manufacturing business, grow your network and advance your career.
Feel free contact Ann Franz with comments or suggestions via email at ann.franz@nwtc.edu.
Menasha Corporation, which was recently honored as Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year, is celebrating its 175th anniversary in 2024. Christopher Drees, who became Menasha Corporation’s CEO last year after previously leading Mercury Marine, joins co-hosts Kate Bruns and Ann Franz on this week’s episode to talk about the history and future of the storied company. Despite its deep roots and a longevity that rivals our state itself, Menasha Corporation was also recognized this year as one of the New North’s Fastest Growing Companies by Insight. Drees talks about expansions and technology investments happening at the company’s Hartford and Neenah facilities, as well as a recent facility acquisition in Texas.
Thank you to Wintrust Commercial Banking at Town Bank, N.A. for sponsoring the podcast all month long.
Bill Ritcey of Farm to Plate and Jim Dobinski of StellarBlue.ai are part of a dedicated group of Web 3.0 evangelists working to push the New North region forward in the adoption of technologies like A.I. and blockchain, the latter of which is the subject of the latest technology feature in IOM, “Building Blocks,” which can be read HERE.
On this episode of NEW Manufacturing Insights, Ritcey and Dobinski sat down with co-hosts Kate Bruns and Ann Franz to talk more about the article, why they meet every Wednesday to talk tech, and why they’re worried about the vast distance our region still needs to travel in the realm of Web 3.0 adoption.
Thank you to Wintrust Commercial Banking at Town Bank, N.A. for sponsoring the podcast all month long.
Learn more about the NEW Manufacturing Alliance’s newest and very popular task force, which is focused on safety, with co-chairs Mark Callow and Mike Winkler of Samuel Pressure Vessel Systems in Marinette. This week’s podcast dives deeper into the March “back office” feature of IOM magazine, “Priority One,” which can be read online HERE.
Thank you to Wintrust Commercial Banking at Town Bank, N.A. for sponsoring the podcast all month long.
March Madness has arrived, and so has the March issue of Insight on Manufacturing magazine. Dive deeper into this month’s cover story with author Amelia Compton-Wolff and with Lisa Johnson, CEO of BioForward Wisconsin, who recently led the successful bid to designate Wisconsin as a Biohealth Tech Hub through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration. The history, future and impact of this designation are outlined in Amelia’s latest story for IOM, “The Next Frontier,” which can be read HERE.
The March issue of IOM is available in its entirety as a digital magazine here: https://www.insightonbusiness.com/eedition/page-01/page_849ebf56-2da4-5c8e-8a40-371d82dee167.html
Also on this episode: The 2024 NEWMA All-Stars will be honored on the field Saturday night when the Green Bay Blizzard host Iowa at the Resch Center. Add some indoor football to your weekend hoops-watching plans with the Alliance and help us cheer on this year’s All-Stars.
Thank you to Wintrust Commercial Banking at Town Bank, N.A. for sponsoring the podcast all month long.
Adam Rupp, CEO of Wisconsin Lighting Lab in Fond du Lac, joins Kate and Ann this week to talk about the important intersection of manufacturing and technology — in ways that both can and can’t be seen by the customer. Will also boasts one of the New North region’s youngest workforces and Rupp talks about some of the values that help make his company an employer of choice for young talent.
Thank you to Wintrust Commercial Banking at Town Bank, N.A. for sponsoring the podcast all month long.
Kate and Ann welcome Neveah Krueger, a welder with Walker Forge’s youth apprenticeship program in Clintonville, along with her mentor, Troy Miller. Neveah and Troy discuss why hands-on learning has been the best option for the high-school student and how to make sure youth apprenticeship students can be successful in the workplace.
Thank you to Wintrust Commercial Banking at Town Bank, N.A. for sponsoring the podcast all month long.
Pat McGettigan, executive vice presidenet of Excellerate — a division of Faith Technologies Incorporated, joins Kate and Ann to talk about the company’s new smart manufacturing facility in Little Chute and how the company is poised on the cutting edge when it comes to technology, modular construction, sustainability and employee wellness.
Jan Allman, vice president and general manager of Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, joins NEW Manufacturing Insights to talk about her manufacturing career and how her decade with Fincantieri has perhaps been the most exciting period of all, building products that serve and protect the nation and move essential goods through the Great Lakes.
Although the show is introduced as “episode 14” of NEW Manufacturing Insights, this actually-the-16th episode of NEWMI features technology leader and inclusion advocate Michelle Schuler, who serves as U.S. program manager for Microsoft TechSpark after successfully building the now-nationwide program starting in Appleton and Green Bay. Schuler is also the founder of Women in Technology Wisconsin and a tireless community volunteer.
Also on this episode: Today is the deadline to nominate young professionals for Insight’s second-annual 40 Under 40 Awards: www.insightonbusiness.com/40u40.
Jeff Van Zeeland, president of Fox Valley Wood Products, joins Ann and Kate to talk more about the company, which will be honored Feb. 29 at Lambeau Field as one of Insight’s Fastest Growing Companies in the New North Region for 2024. Fox Valley Wood Products is one of many manufacturing companies that will be honored at the event. Learn more at www.insightonbusiness.com/fastest.
Also on this episode: The deadline is coming up Feb. 15 to nominate young professionals for Insight’s second annual 40 Under 40 Awards. Learn more at www.insightonbusiness.com/40u40.
Zach Roisum, a controls engineer at Appleton-based Sure Controls, joins Ann and Kate to help demystify the topic of Industry 4.0 and understand the reasons to “dream bigger” when it comes to automation and plant modernization in the manufacturing industry.
Also on this episode: The deadline is coming up Feb. 15 to nominate young professionals for Insight’s second annual 40 Under 40 Awards. Learn more at www.insightonbusiness.com/40u40.
2024 NEWMA All Star Carlos Martinez of Hart Design and Manufacturing joins Kate and Ann, along with Hart HR Director Heather Marconi, on a special episode highlighting Carlos’ unique journey from Mexico to Green Bay to be a manufacturing leader.
Read the full 2024 All Stars magazine, featuring Carlos’ cover story, here: All Stars – 2024 All Stars (insightdigital.biz)
New North, Inc. Vice President Renee Torzala joins Ann and Kate to talk about the January 2024 Insight on Manufacturing cover story about “cool stuff” made in Northeast Wisconsin. New North’s “Cool Stuff” campaign celebrates not only the cool products made in our region, but also people and places that make Northeast Wisconsin, well, cool. Learn more about New North’s plans to increasingly market outdoor recreation as part of its talent attraction efforts in the new year and stay warm with us as we talk all things cool on this edition of NEW Manufacturing Insights.
On this first episode of 2024, the NEW Manufacturing Alliance’s Ann Franz and Insight on Manufacturing’s Kate Bruns talk to Kathy Zuckweiler of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Center for Customized Research and Services about the results of the 2024 NEWMA Manufacturing Vitality Index, recently released for the 16th year. View the complete study results on NEWMA’s website at https://newmfgalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/NEWMA-2024-Vitality-web.pdf.
Aspiro’s Pete Falk and Scott Baker join NEW Manufacturing Insights to talk about the nonprofit organization’s unique and powerful workforce programs for adults with disabilities. To learn more about Aspiro’s work or engage with their services, visit www.aspiroinc.org or call Scott and Pete at (920) 498-2599. NEW Manufacturing Insights is taking a holiday break, but we will return on Thursday, Jan. 11.
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Dean of Trades and Engineering Technologies Amy Kox stops by NEW Manufacturing Insights to talk about the latest happenings in her department, including unprecedented gifts and investments in manufacturing education and the college’s efforts to train the next generation manufacturing workforce.
AriensCo CEO Dan Ariens visits NEW Manufacturing Insights to talk snow business with Ann and Kate — including a new year’s forecast for the company, excitement around the Ariens Nordic Center earning USA Biathlon Training Center designation and more.
On this episode, the NEW Manufacturing Alliance’s Ann Franz and Insight on Manufacturing’s Kate Bruns talk to Tonya Dittman and Holly Hampton of The Village Companies about the company’s diverse growth and commitment to fostering family fun. This includes Maverick Hunting, an arm of The Village Companies that was featured in the November issue of IOM. Read here: Coming together | Plant News | insightonbusiness.com
On this episode, the NEW Manufacturing Alliance’s Ann Franz and Insight on Manufacturing’s Kate Bruns talk to Greg Kleinheinz of UW Oshkosh about how the university has grown and adapted its burgeoning engineering program over the last decade, including its newest addition of an automation engineering technology program. Kleinheinz’s comments expand on what he shared in Insight on Manufacturing’s November cover story. Read here: Training the Engineers of the Future | Cover Story | insightonbusiness.com
NEW Manufacturing Insights will be taking Thanksgiving off but will return with another new episode Nov. 30.
NEW Manufacturing Insights, the official podcast for Northeast Wisconsin manufacturers hosted by the NEW Manufacturing Alliance’s Ann Franz and Insight on Manufacturing’s Kate Bruns, talks to Roxanne Baumann, director of global engagement for WMEP Manufacturing Solutions, about how Wisconsin manufacturers can grow their businesses by reaching the 95% of their customers who live outside the U.S.
Baumann directs Wisconsin’s ExporTech program for C-suite executives, which she talks more about on this episode as well as in Insight on Manufacturing’s September cover story, “Wisconsin Worldwide.” Learn more at wmep.org/trending/exportech/ and insightonmfg.com.
NEW Manufacturing Insights, the official podcast for Northeast Wisconsin manufacturers hosted by the NEW Manufacturing Alliance’s Ann Franz and Insight on Manufacturing’s Kate Bruns, recaps the 13th annual Manufacturing First Expo & Conference, which was held Oct. 25 at Resch Expo in Green Bay with record attendance. Manufacturing First was the brainchild of presenting sponsor First Business Bank and is put on annually by NEWMA and Insight. It has grown into the largest manufacturing event in the state.
This year’s event featured a keynote speech by Bill Fournet, CEO of The Persimmon Group, called “Leading Through Change: How to Thrive in the Age of Disruption.” Hear reactions from the co-hosts to Fournet’s speech, hear from the keynote himself, and enjoy insights from conference attendees recorded live on the expo floor.
NEW Manufacturing Insights, the official podcast for Northeast Wisconsin manufacturers hosted by the NEW Manufacturing Alliance’s Ann Franz and Insight on Manufacturing’s Kate Bruns, talks to award-winning Seymour High School teacher Staci Sievert about her rather unique path to becoming a tech educator and how her school district is leading the way today as a 2023 Excellence in Manufacturing/K-12 Partnership Awards honoree for excellence in both industry relations and creating a talent pipeline in Northeast Wisconsin.
NEW Manufacturing Insights, the official podcast for Northeast Wisconsin manufacturers hosted by the NEW Manufacturing Alliance’s Ann Franz and Insight on Manufacturing’s Kate Bruns, talks to Sargento Foods’ Anne Troka about a vital element of the region’s manufacturing talent issue: designing a college internship program that provides meaningful experiences for students and helps build a talent pipeline while also lightening the load of manufacturers. Sargento Foods today employs more than 20 college interns and is constantly looking to grow and improve its recruiting, retention and educational outreach efforts under Troka’s leadership.
Also on this episode: Hear more about Internship Draft Day, NEWMA’s annual event at Lambeau Field that will once again have students on the edges of their seats Nov. 2. Learn more at www.internshipdraftday.com.
On the first-ever episode of NEW Manufacturing Insights — the official podcast for Northeast Wisconsin manufacturers hosted by the NEW Manufacturing Alliance’s Ann Franz and Insight on Manufacturing’s Kate Bruns, Paul Rauscher and Brian Rasmussen look back 15 years to the founding of both NEWMA and IOM and talk about how the two organizations are working side-by-side today to address Wisconsin’s manufacturing talent shortage, improve education and industry outreach, and help shape a new view of the industry.
Also on this episode: Get a quick preview of Manufacturing First — Wisconsin’s largest manufacturing expo and conference, which is returning to Green Bay Oct. 25.
