NEW Manufacturing Insights, a collaborative business podcast from Insight on Manufacturing magazine and the Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance, debuted Oct. 5 in celebration of Manufacturing Month 2023, and 10 episodes later co-hosts Ann Franz of NEWMA and Kate Bruns of IOM say they are excited to continue the venture into the new year.
“Ann and I have talked about doing this for some time, and when Insight became part of Woodward Communications and moved in with Woodward Radio Group in Appleton, that’s when the dream quickly turned to reality with the support of our producer, B.J. DeGroot, from Woodward Radio,” Bruns says. “We are encouraged by the support we’ve received from listeners, sponsors and guests and look forward to continuing this project into 2024.”
NEW Manufacturing Insights is available on all major podcast platforms, including Apple, Google, Amazon and Spotify. A dedicated show page will a full episode lineup is available online via Spreaker, which distributes the podcast, here.
Guests in 2023 included a wide range of manufacturing and education experts from across the 18-county New North region. Most episodes are 20 minutes in length or shorter, with the exception of the longer premiere show.
Holiday break catch-up listening options include the following episodes:
- Oct. 5, with Paul Rauscher and Brian Rasmussen, sponsored by Oshkosh Corporation: A history of the NEW Manufacturing Alliance and Insight Publications, with a special emphasis on how these two organizations came together to serve the region’s manufacturing industry.Â
- Oct. 12, with Anne Troka of Sargento Foods, sponsored by Oshkosh Corporation: How Sargento developed one of Wisconsin’s, and the industry’s, most robust manufacturing internship programs.
- Oct. 19, with Staci Sievert of Seymour High School, sponsored by Oshkosh Corporation: Why a tech education teacher shortage is bad for our region, bad for manufacturing and a life-changing opportunity for Sievert — an award-winning teacher who made a late career shift to the discipline and today serves as one of the profession’s strongest advocates.
- Nov. 2 Manufacturing First recap, sponsored by ICON Marketing, Inc.: Ann and Kate talk about their experiences at Wisconsin’s largest manufacturing event and play sound from the Resch Expo floor.
- Nov. 9, with Roxanne Baumann of WMEP Manufacturing Solutions, sponsored by ICON Marketing, Inc.:Â A deeper dive into the September 2023 IOM cover story on exporting, which prominently featured Baumann’s tales of success from the Wisconsin ExporTech program she directs.
- Nov. 16, with Greg Kleinheinz of UW Oshkosh, sponsored by ICON Marketing, Inc.: Another cover story deep-dive, this time on the November issue, as Kleinheinz talks about the opportunity for Wisconsin’s universities to grow their engineering and engineering technology programs with the support of industry.
- Nov. 30, with Tonya Dittman and Holly Hampton of The Village Companies, sponsored by ICON Marketing, Inc.: Get to know this Pulaski-based company, which probably does more than you think — including its ever-expanding Maverick Hunting division.
- Dec. 7, with Dan Ariens of AriensCo, sponsored by ICON Marketing, Inc.: Check in with one of the region’s best-known CEOs, who talks about the latest happenings at AriensCo and the work the company is shouldering to grow the small Calumet County community of Brillion it calls home.
- Dec. 14, with Amy Kox of Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, sponsored by ICON Marketing, Inc.:Â Learn how NWTC’s trades and engineering technologies programs are exploding, fueled in large part by gifts and grants that both recognize its excellence and its need to grow and reach more students.
- Dec. 21, with Pete Falk and Scott Baker of Aspiro, sponsored by ICON Marketing, Inc.: The dignity of work is important to us all, including individuals with disabilities. Go inside Aspiro’s unique workforce program, which engages 30-40 people every day in Green Bay on projects of incredible magnitude that instill a sense of pride and learning.
Each episode of NEW Manufacturing Insights concludes with words of wisdom from each guest.
The next episode of NEW Manufacturing Insights will be available on Thursday, Jan. 11, following a short holiday break. New episodes will be released most Thursdays. If you are interested in being a guest or suggesting a topic for the program, please contact Bruns at kbruns@insightonbusiness.com. If you are interested in sponsoring this unique podcast, contact your Insight account manager or call (920) 882-0491.
