Maybe it’s not the most fashionable term, admits New North, Inc. Vice President Renee Torzala, but the marketing and branding committee she leads for her organization, made up of communications professionals from across the 18-county region, thinks it’s important for people to know that living in Northeast Wisconsin is “cool.”
That includes the powerful presence of manufacturing, which Torzala says New North, Inc. is hoping to re-brand from a stuffy term like “heavy industrial” to an inspiring idea like “we make cool stuff.”
“A lot of the things that are made in the world are made right here in Northeast Wisconsin,” Torzala says. “These are things that are either making people’s lives better, or something we use every day.”
New North, Inc. launched the “Cool Stuff” campaign about a year ago with a series of ads and videos telling the stories of events like Appleton’s Mile of Music festival, places like the Ariens Nordic Center, companies like Faith Technologies Incorporated, and “stuff” like Kohler’s Abstra Collection made from recycled materials and Bay Tek Entertainment’s legendary arcade game, Skee-Ball, which is manufactured in Pulaski.
“All of a sudden, we started making this list and realized we had something special,” Torzala recalls. “We featured 12 things last year, and we’re going to be rolling out some more [in 2024].”
Torzala says emphasizing the role of “making” is a valuable tool in talent attraction, which is one of the key missions of New North, Inc. NEW Manufacturing Alliance Executive Director Ann Franz agrees, adding that the options in our region are almost unlimited.
“Northeast Wisconsin, we’re different from other parts of the country that kind of focus on a particular sector of manufacturing, like the auto industry,” Franz says. “We’re doing food; we’re doing paper, plastic, industrial machines … snowblowers. What makes this area recession proof is that we have these broad cross sectors of manufacturing. So if one is down, another one is up, and you’re able to work as a machinist at a plastic company as well as an industrial machine builder. A lot of places in the country are so tied to one sector that if that sector is down, it really impacts the entire community.”
Showcasing the breadth of goods that are made in Wisconsin was the inspiration behind Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce’s annual “Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin” competition, which has annually engaged manufacturers in storytelling via a lively, “March Madness” style online voting competition since 2016.
In a state where 1 in 6 are employed by the manufacturing sector, the New North region employs 1 in 4, perhaps making it no surprise that Northeast Wisconsin makers have won the prize three years in a row and that three of the most recent “Final Four” products hailed from the region.
Telling the “stories behind the stuff” is good marketing, but it also captures the imaginations of kids who grow up relishing the process of making, says Franz, who is laser-focused on not only attracting talent to Northeast Wisconsin but inspiring the next generation of students to see themselves in manufacturing.
“[NEWMA] is trying to show pride in making, and it’s really exciting that we’re talking to these schools, and they’re hiring more and more tech ed teachers because there is more interest in making and doing,” she says. “And so although we have a long way to go, we definitely see movement in that desire to be makers.”
It starts with the cool stuff.
— Kate Bruns
Click here to read about all the cool stuff in the January 2024 IOM digital magazine.
The Cool Stuff roundup:
- Beer Tap Handles Made by: Hankscraft AJS
- Bevi Bottleless Water Dispenser Made by: Plexus Appleton
- Skee-Ball Made by: Bay Tek Entertainment/The Village Companies Pulaski
- SuperShot Made by: Bay Tek Entertainment/The Village Companies Pulaski
- Applewood Smoked Bacon Made by: Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Meats Wittenberg
- GO-3 Water Bottle Cap Made by: Roving Blue Lena
- Big Blue Made by: Broadwind Heavy Fabrications Manitowoc
- Cast Iron Bucket Attachment Made by: Waupaca Foundry Marinette
- Joint Light Tactical Vehicle Made by: Oshkosh Defense Oshkosh
- RAK’N Pak Recycle Bag System Made by: PolyWrap Recycling Sheboygan
- HDC-100 Filling Line Made by: HART Design & Mfg. Green Bay
- Turbine 480B Made by: Enstrom Helicopter Corporation Menominee
- Sway Lounge Seating Made by: KI Green Bay
- WiggleRoom Made by: KI Green Bay
- Volterra Electric Pumper Made by: Pierce Manufacturing Appleton
- Striker Volterra Electric Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Vehicle Made by: Oshkosh Airport Products Neenah
- Screw Press Separator Made by: AL-INS Enterprises Fond du Lac
- ecoMAX Cool Made by: NPS Holdings Green Bay
