Green Bay-based nonprofit Aspiro has touched thousands of lives, including helping a client with disabilities achieve his goal of becoming a drill press operator. But manufacturing isn’t the only industry seeing the benefits of partnering with Aspiro, President Ryan Ruzziconi points out on this week’s all-new episode of the NEW Manufacturing Insights podcast.
Aspiro provides life and employment services to individuals of all ages living with disabilities in Northeast Wisconsin, operating with the motto “live your way.” Ruzziconi tells co-hosts Ann Franz of the NEW Manufacturing Alliance and Kate Bruns of Insight what he has learned and appreciated in his first year-and-a-half on the job, both about the reach of the organization and the need for more visibility and awareness of Northeast Wisconsin’s disability community.
“That’s what we’re always striving to do, is to give them that (visibility and awareness),” he says, adding that support from the business community is essential to Aspiro’s success. “When we work with our business partners, our volunteers, they open those doors for us.”
On episode 126, Ruzziconi goes on to share more about Aspiro’s services, which include early intervention (birth to age 3), adult day services, and Project SEARCH — an immersive job training and placement program. Aspiro also provides group supported employment services, with its clients often being the muscle behind the scenes at popular entertainment venues like the EPIC Event Center and Kress Event Center for UW-Green Bay basketball.
Aspiro currently has 100-plus business partners but is always looking for more. A lawyer and entrepreneur, Ruzziconi says he has been consistently impressed by the support Aspiro receives, calling Green Bay one of the most benevolent communities in which he has lived. But he also points out that business partnerships are a two-way street and that Aspiro’s wins multiply for individuals, families, and the broader community.
“We encourage any business out there, if they’re looking for alternative employment solutions, please give us a call,” Ruzziconi says.
Listen to this week’s full episode for more about those opportunities and, as always, listen to the end for Ruzziconi’s best leadership insight.
NEW Manufacturing Insights is distributed by Spreaker but available anywhere you get audio podcasts, including Apple and Spotify. The podcast is produced by Woodward Community Media and sponsored throughout 2026 by Stoke RGA.
