This is a big week for celebrating October is Manufacturing Month in northeast Wisconsin. On Tuesday, October 29th is the NEW Manufacturing Alliance’s 13th annual Excellence in Mfg./K-12 Partnerships Awards at the Resch Expo from 6:15 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. The Awards are given to manufacturers and educators that are working together to help youth explore manufacturing careers. This year’s winners include:
2024 EDUCATION AWARD WINNERS
Brighter Image – Oconto Falls High School
Career Pathmaker – Administrator – Dirk Ribbens, Ashwaubenon High School
Career Pathmaker – Educator – David Gordon, CESA 7
Career Pathmaker – Tech Ed Teacher – Jeremy Hodkiewicz, Shawano School District
Education Innovation – Wrightstown Community School District
2024 MANUFACTURER AWARD WINNERS
Brighter Image – Pierce Manufacturing
Educational Partnership – Gulfstream
Leadership – The Village Companies
Visionary – Jake Schulz, Therma-Tron-X, Inc.
Youth Apprenticeship – Sargento Foods
2024 COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP WINNER
Community Partnership – MFG 4.0 Business Education Partnership and Collaboration (Sargento Foods, Masters Gallery Foods, Amerequip Krier Foods, Kiel, Elkhart Lake, Random Lake and Oostburg High Schools).
The Alliance will also be announcing 2024 All-Star and Mentor Award winners. This award recognizes top talent at Alliance member companies. Companies with a winner include: Fiberglass Solutions, Fincantieri ACE Marine, Georgia-Pacific, HART Design & Manufacturing, KI, Marion Body Works, Nature’s Way, Nicolet Plastics and Nueske Applewood Smoked Meats. The Awards dinner serves as a fundraiser for the NEW Manufacturing Alliiance’s Scholarship Fund. The Alliance awarded $65,000 worth of college scholarships for the 2024-2025 college term. Over the last fifteen years, the Alliance has sponsored over $500,000 in college scholarships.
The 14th annual Manufacturing First Expo & Conference, presented by First Business Bank in collaboration with Insight Publications and the Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance will be held on Wednesday, October 30 at Resch Expo. It is the largest annual manufacturing conference in the state of Wisconsin. There are over 1,500 people registered for this conference including over 200 exhibitors.
Admission includes a full day of networking — including the “Power Hour” social with prize giveaways on the expo floor; breakfast; lunch; the opportunity to hear a keynote address by Steve Jones , co-founder, Jadin | Jones Coaching and Consulting; plus at the event will be a wide array of educational breakout sessions; and more.
A complete preview of Manufacturing First, including a listing of this year’s over 200 exhibitors as well as a listing of this year’s event sponsors, is available online at www.manufacturingfirst.com.
