For 37 years, the Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year awards have recognized the critical $73 billion industry that employs 1 of 6 Wisconsin workers. On Feb. 19 at the historic Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, eight companies heard their names announced at a black‑tie gala — generally considered the state’s premier recognition of manufacturing excellence, sponsored annually by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), Baker Tilly and Michael Best & Friedrich.
This year’s winners were selected from more than 40 finalists that were announced in January. Nine Northeast Wisconsin companies were up for this year’s awards, including the four annual “grand” awards, separated into categories by company size, and four “spotlight” awards aimed at recognizing excellence in achieving specific industry benchmarks.
The president of Robinson Inc., a De Pere‑based contract manufacturer specializing in custom metal fabrication, engineering, and assembly for large industrial enclosures and systems, says he’s not usually one to put much stock in awards, but the opportunity to win another grand award at The Pfister this year got Sam Thomas “a little cranked up.” And as the company’s walk‑up music by Macklemore blared through the ballroom that February evening, Thomas says he was proud to be surrounded by three tables of Robinson leaders and their spouses.
“This [award] in particular does a really good job of showcasing the effort our entire team puts in,” he says. “It’s something they can really get behind.”
And when it comes to the MOTY grand award, Thomas knows what he’s talking about. He was the company’s operations manager in 2018 when it won a grand award the first time; Robinson is now one of just 18 companies statewide to win it more than once. Both of Robinson’s wins were in the “large” category (300‑999 employees). But with the firm’s recent announcement that it will open a 560,000‑square‑foot facility in Altoona, Iowa early next year, this may be the last ceremony before Robinson, currently standing at about 950 employees, jumps to the “mega” category for 1,000‑plus‑employee firms.
If he’s being honest, Thomas says, he’s not surprised by Robinson’s rapid growth. He said the table was already set for success when he first joined the company in 2016.
But a lot has changed since then, Thomas says, including the company’s transition to an ESOP. One of the other major shifts has been consolidating what were once six separate divisions to improve efficiency.
“We pulled everything under the ‘One Robinson’ structure and shed the divisions,” Thomas says, adding that the company also restructured many positions in the process so that good employees were empowered to specialize. Employee productivity was also enhanced through the creation of the Robinson Training Academy, led by veteran Green Bay police officer Jeff Engelbrecht.
Rapid growth and persistent culture can be strange bedfellows, and Thomas says it’s naive to expect there won’t be some cultural growing pains in any organization. But Robinson, he says, has navigated change and growth by empowering team members and focusing on what “winning” means to them — not just a MOTY award, but a thriving workplace.
“I think we’ve done a really good job of understanding that cultures evolve just like businesses do,” he says. “But in profit sharing — I say this a lot — we have two goals. Number one is, we want to be the best place to work. Number two is, we’re going to create as much value as we can for our employees and their families.”
Becoming an ESOP is a big part of Robinson’s story, Thomas says, but “maybe even more so is what we’ve done … growing this thing,” he says. “I was really happy when they said ‘Robinson,’ because I think it’s very well deserved.”
David Krutz of Michael Best & Friedrich said Robinson was selected because of how it has navigated scale and increased complexity “without losing discipline or culture.”
“Robinson demonstrated impressive growth while maintaining financial discipline and investing heavily in training and leadership development,” Krutz said. “Their commitment to people, customers and long‑term operational excellence makes them a true leader in Wisconsin manufacturing.”
Sparking interest
When it came to selecting this year’s spotlight award for excellence in product and process innovation, Baker Tilly’s Chad O’Brien said it was hard to overlook the innovation and efficiency happening at the young and scrappy Fond du Lac firm Spark Ops Metalworks, owned by CEO Maria Perl and her Fond du Lac native husband Brian Perl — serial entrepreneurs who have found their greatest success yet running the metal truss and temporary modular structure manufacturing firm.
“By strategically positioning inventory across the country and building systems designed for efficiency and growth, they created a product to meet a clear market need,” O’Brien said of Spark Ops’ selection for the award.
Spark Ops’ market has essentially been the world’s biggest sports and entertainment enterprises, including the NFL, X‑Games and Formula 1, but it is also now working with entities like Boeing and FEMA. The company’s specialty is high‑quality temporary structures. The Perls started Spark Ops in 2022, and it has seen exponential growth ever since. In January 2025, Spark Ops became the exclusive manufacturer of North Carolina‑based Infinite Structures’ I‑Cube, which has the added benefit of being collapsible for easy transportation. So not only has Spark Ops used its trusses and I‑Cubes to manufacture stages for the Super Bowl, but it has also created things like housing for homeless veterans.
Seven I‑Cubes can be set in about three hours, Maria Perl says.
“In three hours, you can have a full structure — rough base, walls, doors, air conditioners that can support people,” she says. “We can build offices. A medical facility. We can build anything. We want to shape the world for the better.”
Perl says Spark Ops currently has about 40 employees, and it is looking to hire as it breaks ground this spring on a new facility on 24 acres in the Fond du Lac Aeronautical Industrial Park. Consolidating the company’s operations from five locations into one headquarters should maximize efficiency and growth opportunities, she says.
Spark Ops’ biggest entertainment project yet is underway in Miami, as it is building the MSC Yacht Club experience for next month’s Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix. The venue will be a temporary super yacht located inside Turn 7 for entertaining 2,000 guests and promoting the MSC brand, measuring 264 feet in length and 50 feet in height. Spark Ops is sending 63 truckloads of cubes and trusses to Miami to construct the behemoth. It will take about 40 workers one month to build, it will be up for three days, and then Spark Ops will deconstruct it and move its materials on to the next big event.
“The beauty and benefit of our structures [is that] they serve a purpose and then move on to the next,” Perl says. “They give the benefit of that sturdiness so that it’s almost permanent, but it can move and be reconfigured. We just pivot and go somewhere else.”
Sadie Howell, executive director of Envision Greater Fond du Lac, says Spark Ops had not particularly been on her organization’s radar before it started hearing rumors the firm was considering a move to Sheboygan County. Not only did Howell’s team find the ideal location at the Aeronautical Industrial Park to keep Spark Ops growing in Fond du Lac, but Howell quickly became a superfan of Spark Ops’ work and of its affable, hardworking CEO. She says she was proud to serve as the company’s nominator for the MOTY award.
“I just feel really fortunate to have met [Maria] and gotten to know her and call her a friend,” Howell says. “There are just so few women CEOs, and she’s so humble and authentic. I can’t speak highly enough about what an incredible human being to run an innovative company like this, to continue to grow the company and be so engaged and invested in the community.”
Perl says hearing Spark Ops’ name announced at The Pfister was a joy and a surprise she won’t soon forget.
“I feel like we won a Grammy or something,” she says.
2025 Manufacturer of the Year Finalists from Northeast Wisconsin
- Bassett Inc., Kaukauna
- Blended Waxes, Inc., Oshkosh
- Eck Industries, Inc., Manitowoc
- The Lawton Standard Co., De Pere
- M2S Group, Appleton
- Omnia Wood Products LLC, Crivitz
- Redline Plastics, Manitowoc
- Robinson, Inc., De Pere
- Spark Ops Metalworks, Fond du Lac
