It wasn’t a hoax.
Eric Vanden Heuvel admits he did his due diligence after receiving a call unlike any he’d gotten before in his three years as vice president for talent and education at the Greater Green Bay Chamber. It was a life-changing opportunity — and if it was legit, he had to get it right.
But the proposal on the other end of the line was indeed real: A manufacturing technology company, not even headquartered in Wisconsin, was seeking his help finding the best way to pay for at least 50 area students’ college education.
Strengthening the community
Xometry, Inc. Co-founder Laurence Zuriff says he’s in the business of strengthening the U.S. manufacturing ecosystem, so when the Maryland-based global company set out to create a new scholarship program last year it focused on five national hubs of manufacturing innovation. Working with the Chamber and with Rep. Mike Gallagher, who represents Greater Green Bay, Xometry was able to zero in on a region with the nation’s second-highest concentration of manufacturing employment: Northeast Wisconsin.
Speaking at a press conference to announce the partnership last summer, Chamber President and CEO Laurie Radke called the program a solution to a “talent crisis” that is likely to persist at least another decade.
“We want to make sure the industry we operate in remains strong and remains present and relevant,” says Zuriff, who today serves as managing director of Xometry’s donor advised fund and ESG (environmental, social, governance) initiatives. “You only get that by providing educational support to get new ideas flowing through the market.”
Xometry’s B2B business is focused on bringing buyers and manufacturing service providers together through an AI-powered marketplace. So yes, the company employs workers with advanced manufacturing skills — but so, and perhaps more importantly, do its customers and business partners. Among the fields of greatest importance to Xometry are machining, welding, industrial maintenance and technology, automation, mechanical design and fundamentals, and electromechanical technology. Zuriff also says 3D printing is a particularly high-growth field that will be important to the futures of Xometry and its partners.
“Most important is being able to attract young, intelligent people to an industry that can actually give them a very good wage and a set of skills that will last with them their entire lives,” Zuriff says.
Pursuing passions
Among his fellow students at Pulaski’s Grace Christian Academy, Benjamin Matuszak says, he was the only one thinking seriously about a career in manufacturing. He had grown up with a family friend who worked in a welding shop.
“He used to show me some of the stuff he would do,” Matuszak says. “And I had a little hobby welder at my house, nothing super serious.”
But since graduating from high school and enrolling at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Matuszak has become more serious about metal fabrication and welding. And thanks to the scholarship from Xometry, he’s on a path to a high-paying career in the field.
When he got the call informing him he was receiving the scholarship, Matuszak admits he was surprised and even a little confused. He had never heard of Xometry, and now the company was funding his college education.
“I was just looking at scholarship options and thought I’d apply,” says Matuszak, one of 161 people who applied for the initial opportunity. “I wasn’t super sure I’d have the money to get through college, so [Xometry] has really helped me through a rough time. I can’t thank them enough; it’s a great opportunity.”
He says that, so far, he is confident in his choice to study metal fabrication at NWTC.
“I’m having a great time with it,” he says. “This is a field that’s in need of people, and I can pretty much get right into a job out of school, which I’m excited about.”
A family-sustaining career
Erin Guerrero’s path to NWTC has been more winding. It was when the mother of two was faced with the hardship of divorce that she pivoted away from clerical and retail jobs and toward manufacturing.
“My dreams and goals [had been] kind of put on hold,” she says. “I’ve always enjoyed building things, so I applied with a manufacturing company because they had better hours for me with children in school. I ended up falling in love with working with machinery, so I thought, ‘Hey, why don’t I get a degree in this?’”
Guerrero’s story is more the rule than the exception at NWTC, where the average student age is 27, according to Vice President of Student Services Jennifer Flatt.
“[Our students] have life responsibilities they need to fulfill, and they come to us because they want to change direction and have the fulfilling, family-sustaining wage career,” Flatt says.
By pursuing her degree in automation engineering technology, that’s exactly what Guerrero is looking to do. Both Xometry and the college are providing her with the tools to do so.
“There’s a lot of faith and belief in the students here,” Guerrero says of NWTC. “There’s a sense of understanding that I’m not taking anything for granted, if I need some extra support. The school’s been super supportive and helpful in getting me back on my feet.”
Impact on campus
This fall, NWTC awarded Xometry scholarships to 64 students, 54 of whom are new to the college and a large majority of which are the first in their families to attend college. Jill Thiede, NWTC’s associate dean of trades and engineering technologies, says the fall semester saw the “most racially diverse group of students we’ve had in our tech hall.”
“It’s really exciting to see change that reflects more the demographics of our community,” Thiede says. “That’s been really encouraging to our faculty.”
And while financial barriers may be among the biggest for first-generation college students, Flatt and Thiede both say the Xometry scholarship has helped NWTC face and tackle other obstacles that have made enrolling advanced manufacturing students a challenge.
“For any higher ed institution, the barrier to reaching that first-generation student is the perception that college ‘isn’t for me,’ or ‘I’m not college material,’ whatever that means,” Flatt says. “It’s about building up two things: belief in themselves, and an understanding of what college can do.”
One of the most exciting aspects of the Xometry scholarship, from the college’s perspective, is how few strings were attached for applicants. Processes were simplified, and eligibility was boiled down to which advanced manufacturing skills NWTC had to offer and which students wanted to pursue those career opportunities. Money is also set aside to help with students’ life expenses.
“We wanted to put as few roadblocks as possible out there,” Zuriff says, adding that he believes formal education remains a vital American resource despite concerns about labor shortages and student debt.
“[Xometry was] really insistent from day one that they want this to work as quickly as possible,” the chamber’s Vanden Heuvel says. “But at the same time they wanted to incentivize education. With the current status of the workforce, employers are so hungry for people that they’re taking them even before they finish their degrees. The beauty of this partnership is that it provides incentive for the employer as well.”
Trust and belief
Joe Draves, NWTC associate dean of trades and engineering technologies alongside Thiede, says the Xometry scholarship has inspired career-changers, including some coming to manufacturing from the health care field, but many are already working in the industry that employs 1 in 5 Brown County residents.
“In the conversations I’m having with [business leaders], they recognize there’s a population we’re not reaching and that’s first-generation [students],” Draves says. “We’re not convincing them to come to school; we’re not convincing them to go into manufacturing. A lot of them are working from the time they’re 16 or 17 years old, and for them to stop working and go to school becomes a barrier. So … the funds provided by Xometry, it’s a huge help.”
Furthermore, says Thiede, the Xometry program flips the traditional model for employer educational support. Tuition reimbursement programs are failing to adequately engage Gen Z employees, she says.
Zuriff acknowledges there’s some risk in providing a pool of money to invest in NWTC students upfront, but he says it aligns with a belief in people that has been a core business principle that has made Xometry successful.
“Companies want to grow employees,” Thiede explains. “They want them to develop skills, want them to be long-term employees, but that’s not always the perception the employees have, so it’s important to tell that story differently and make them feel valued as individuals.”
With Xometry’s scholarship program, she adds, there’s a distinct element of trust-building involved.
“Industry is saying, ‘I trust you,’” Thiede says. “And I’ve seen that result in greater loyalty. Everyone’s looking for employees right now in manufacturing, and to see a company take this proactive of an approach, I think it’s a great blueprint.”
