Ann Franz stopped wearing high heels to Manufacturing First years ago.
Over the course of less than 24 hours, the executive director of the NEW Manufacturing Alliance annually covers miles of ground during what has grown to be Wisconsin’s largest manufacturing event, which this year celebrates its 15th anniversary Oct. 29 at the Resch Expo in Green Bay.
But aching feet are a small price to pay for Franz, whom Insight Publisher Emeritus Brian Rasmussen describes as integral to the event’s success from the beginning. For Franz, the feeling is mutual — especially as she thinks about the 2025 event.
“It’s very bittersweet this year because of Brian [retiring],” she says. “I love his positivity, even amid chaos, and I just value the person he is and how he’s always thinking outside of the box to [challenge] the status quo. But I’m also excited about some of the new team taking our vision from 15 years ago and putting a fresh set of eyes on it.”
As Rasmussen retires this fall, he says he is proud that the Manufacturing First Expo & Conference is part of his professional legacy, as it has played a key role in elevating a critical and once‑hidden industry giant.
“I think Manufacturing First has helped build the positive identity of manufacturing and its importance in Northeast Wisconsin,” Rasmussen says. “It has been the one place people can come and get a good feel for our manufacturers.”
Getting people talking
There are more than 2,000 manufacturing companies in the 18-county region of Northeast Wisconsin, which has been a hub of manufacturing excellence for far longer than 15 years. But the formation of NEWMA, the launch of Insight on Manufacturing magazine and the development of Manufacturing First have served as a three-pronged catalyst for a major manufacturing industry image makeover.
Paul Rauscher, owner of EMT International, helped found NEWMA because he was frustrated with the industry’s reputation as “dark, dirty and dangerous” and because the education community didn’t “see manufacturing as business,” he said on a 2023 episode of the NEW Manufacturing Insights podcast. The early 2000s were a pivotal moment for the industry as it began to face increasing brain drain and other external threats.
Conversations with Franz and Rauscher opened Rasmussen’s eyes to the opportunity to be a voice for manufacturing and create Insight on Manufacturing, which then led to Insight on Business, in 2007.
“This is horrible to admit, because I grew up in this area, worked in business publishing: I had no clue how important manufacturing was in this area until I started talking to Ann,” Rasmussen says. “Indiana and Wisconsin are competing every year for who’s got the most manufacturing per capita. Nobody was talking about that.”
‘More than a magazine’
Rasmussen says one of the best pieces of advice he and his co-founder Margaret LeBrun received when creating Insight was to be “more than just a magazine.” That’s why, at the height of the 2008 recession, Insight created the InDevelopment Conference in response from concerns from the construction and community development industries about keeping projects moving forward. The event, which continues to this day, was a sweeping success and set the tone for ongoing conversations.
And Mickey Noone, regional president at First Business Bank, took notice. He approached Rasmussen about doing a similar event for manufacturers, which was a key segment of First Business Bank’s customer base. Noone approached Rasmussen in the middle of the summer with the goal of getting at least 40 vendors to attend a manufacturing conference in September. Rasmussen said OK, he was crazy enough to try it — but not without the help of Franz.
“It was a crazy idea: that a bank, a publishing company and a nonprofit would get together and put on a big event,” Franz says. “My board members said no one’s going to come to this.”
Those skeptics included Rauscher, who told Franz “it will never work.”
“If you ever tell Ann Franz ‘it will never work,’ look out,” Rauscher says. “Because that bulldozer is coming, and she will prove you wrong.”
Making it happen
The first Manufacturing First Expo & Conference was held in 2011 at the KI Convention Center in Green Bay. Working together to promote the event, Insight, NEWMA and First Business Bank exceeded their attendance goal.
“I can’t remember exactly what the attendance was, but we had more than we would have thought for such a short timeframe,” Rasmussen says. “So it was definitely one where we thought, let’s keep this thing going.”
Rasmussen remembers the early iterations of Manufacturing First including “booth talks” instead of breakout sessions. The “Power Hour” networking session with prize giveaways and the idea of bringing in high school students for interactive activities are among the innovations that have occurred since. The event, which moved from KI to the Resch Expo in 2022, has increased its attendance every year.
As Manufacturing First grew in both scope and impact, the community took notice. This included Jerimiah Janssen, who says he wasn’t looking for a new job when he was approached with an opportunity to join First Business Bank in 2014. Janssen knew the bank’s connection to Manufacturing First, and it was a big reason he made the leap and remains today as a First Business Bank vice president.
“I thought it was pretty amazing what they were doing,” Janssen says. “I loved the whole concept of an education series, promoting Wisconsin manufacturing and forming a strong community. That was one of the things that turned me on to First Business Bank.”
Keys to victory
Franz says upping the budget for keynote speakers and bringing in national heavy-hitters was one of the biggest enhancements that has paid dividends for Manufacturing First. People still talk about John Sileo, who hacked a conference attendee’s iPhone live on stage in 2022, and Rick Rigsby, who provided a dose of hope at a time when COVID had left many hopeless — even those, Rasmussen says, who liked to declare “hope isn’t a strategy.”
And then there was last year’s keynote speaker, the local but also national Steve Jones, who was himself inspired by a Manufacturing First keynote: “Everybody Matters” author Bob Chapman, who spoke in 2018 and became Jones’ mentor.
Franz says first-time attendees are typically wowed by Manufacturing First’s content.
“We invest a lot of money in having professional keynotes, and you don’t have to go to Las Vegas or Florida to these huge, huge conferences to see them,” she says.
A-ha moments
On the surface, Oshkosh Corporation doesn’t stand to benefit much from setting up a booth every year at Manufacturing First, let alone bringing in fire trucks and JLTVs for attendees to see and touch. The likelihood they’ll find a new vehicle customer at the event is pretty slim.
But Jodie Larson, Oshkosh Corp’s vice president for community engagement, says Manufacturing First is so much more than a trade show. It’s a showcase of innovation and technology, she says, and a chance to collaborate — including with the next generation of talent.
“I look at business years ago, and we were all working within our own four walls with our heads down,” she says. “Now I think, especially in this region, it’s much more open. That collaboration is more important than ever.”
And when NEWMA brings students to the expo floor, seeing their “a-ha” moments is always a highlight for Larson.
Franz says the student component was added to Manufacturing First about a decade ago, and it has been refined over the years. She says there were formerly upwards of 500 students on the floor, but NEWMA has scaled that back by about half and now targets students and facilitates interactions a bit more intentionally.
“Since COVID, we assign the kids to a certain table and do a rotation of 15, 20 minute activities and it’s more engaging,” Franz says. “Some of the kids … are like ‘wow, I really like this. I had no idea how cool this is.’ So that awareness has been instrumental.”
A celebration of manufacturing
Janssen says Manufacturing First has become a must-attend event — and not just for manufacturers, but for everyone whose life or work is touched by the Northeast Wisconsin manufacturing hub.
“It’s pretty amazing to see the growth and development … seeing people’s circles enhance,” he says. “They look forward to it on an annual basis, just connecting with their suppliers, their customers, their prospects all in one location.”
Organizers agree: The term “trade show” doesn’t begin to describe Manufacturing First.
“It’s just like, almost celebratory,” Rasmussen says. “I think the brand of manufacturing, the voice of manufacturing, the importance of manufacturing has all been elevated through this.”
Manufacturing First has grown to become Insight’s largest event, and Rasmussen says it wouldn’t have been possible without the collaboration between Insight, NEWMA and First Business Bank, as well as the event management services provided by Appleton-based A-Mazing Events — a long-term Manufacturing First partner.
Manufacturing First can continue to grow, Janssen says. It started with the spark of an idea and has flourished through collaborations.
“We’re proud to be the originators,” he says. “We value the importance of all the manufacturing companies throughout Wisconsin, and we know how beneficial they are to our communities. There’s a lot we’re very proud of.”
