At a black-tie banquet Feb. 20 inside Milwaukee’s Pfister Hotel, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) celebrated an annual tradition by naming the state’s “Manufacturers of the Year.” Half of this year’s awards went to Northeast Wisconsin manufacturing companies, including Plexus Corp. of Neenah and JR Machine of Shawano winning grand awards in the mega and small categories, respectively.
“It’s really about getting known, and awards like this can help,” says Plexus CEO Todd Kelsey, who acknowledges his firm only recently became more ambitious about marketing and public recognition because of a desire to support talent attraction and charitable endeavors. “There are so many great companies in the state, so to be selected as part of that group is pretty incredible.”
Kelsey says 2024 was only the second year Plexus has applied for Manufacturer of the Year, and the company has been honored both times. Plexus received a special award for global collaboration and local precision in 2023; it also won WMC’s 2023 “Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin” competition for its Bevi Bottleless Water Dispenser.
It’s been something of a winning streak for the global product developer that serves the industrial, health care/life sciences and aerospace/defense industries.
“I think we’re one of only two companies to win ‘Coolest Thing’ and ‘Manufacturer of the Year,’” Kelsey says, “with the other being Oshkosh Corporation.”
JR Machine pivots, thrives
JR Machine also has an impressive track record in the Manufacturer of the Year competition, having won two of the four times it has applied, says Founder and Owner Tim Tumanic. The company looks completely different in 2025 than it did last time it won in 2018, Tumanic says — and that adaptability and growth is a big reason the company was honored this year.
“We pivoted the business right after COVID to be more of an aerospace machine shop, and because of that aerospace certification we were able to break into space exploration and … now we’re doing business with five of six of the top launch companies in the world,” he says. “In 2024, we made the decision to bring in a growth partner with Schneider Resource Holdings so that we can continue to grow in these markets going forward.”
JR Machine is in growth mode, says President Parker Tumanic. This includes plans for hiring as well as exploring mergers and acquisitions. He says the firm’s 48 employees feel a tremendous sense of pride receiving the Manufacturer of the Year honor, as well as in the work they are doing to help explore the last frontier.
“We’re involved in all this front-end work for very complex rocket engines going to space, and it takes a really good core of people with a certain skill set to support that vision,” Parker Tumanic says.
Cream of the crop
The mega category in which Plexus won is reserved for companies with more than 400 employees; the small category in which JR Machine won is reserved for companies employing fewer than 100. Also receiving grand awards this year were Weinbrenner Shoe Company of Merrill in the large category and Plas-Tech Engineering of Lake Geneva in the medium category.
Special awards were presented to ANGI Energy Systems LLC of Janesville and VARC, Inc., of Viroqua, in addition to two companies from the New North region: Redline Plastics of Manitowoc was recognized as a “top of the line workplace,” and Omnia Wood Products of Crivitz was lauded as the “future of flavor.”
Redline, which also finished in the top three of Insight’s 2024 “Best Places to Work in Manufacturing – Wisconsin” in November, is a provider of rotational molding, vacuum forming, commercial sewing and other services. In receiving the workplace recognition, President Nick Murray points to the company’s strategic initiatives for recruiting Gen Z workforce and its “How We Redline” cultural behaviors that have been adopted and appreciated by its team.
“These behaviors emphasize integrity, safety, passion and teamwork,” Murray says.
Omnia Wood Products makes wood chips, pellets and sticks for cooking and grilling applications under the brand name Smokey Woods. The company, led by CEO Ed Kolasinski, has grown from seven employees in 2022 to more than 35 today.
Kolasinski and Owner Derek Taylor told Insight on Business last winter that they attribute the Smokey Woods brand’s rapid growth to the increased popularity of grills and smokers during the pandemic.
“We’re not just selling wood,” Kolasinski told Insight. “We’re selling what the wood brings. It’s the family backyard barbecue; it’s tailgating outside of Lambeau … it’s getting friends and family together.”
Standing strong
“Wisconsinites make things, and they make them well,” says President and CEO Kurt Bauer of WMC, which has presented the Manufacturer of the Year awards for 36 years, including sponsorship support from Baker Tilly and Michael Best & Friedrich LLP. “Our state relies on hardworking manufacturers to provide economic stability, careers, innovation and much more.”
As always, this year’s Manufacturer of the Year Award winners were selected by an independent panel of judges. Key benchmarks upon which applicants were evaluated include financial growth, technological advances, product development, sustainability, operational excellence and continuous improvement.
Kelsey says Plexus was recognized in large part because of how well it weathered the collapse of some of its key markets in 2024.
“Our team really rallied around not only [getting] our growth trajectory headed in the right direction, but also strong profitability and cash flow performance throughout the year,” he says. “We basically put ourselves in a much better cash position, and I feel like we’re set up exceptionally well for 2025. Certainly financial performance was a big piece of [the recognition], but philanthropy was also a big deal, and our strong collaborative culture within the company.”
The Plexus Community Foundation donates more than $1 million annually, Kelsey says, and employees contribute 20,000 volunteer time off hours per year.
Kelsey says Plexus is slowly transitioning away from being the region’s “best-kept secret” to a global company celebrating success right here in the New North region.
“[We make] highly complex products,” he says. “Every year I’m amazed at some of the stuff I see. I’ve been here 31 years, and I am still surprised every year. They’re products that really transform the world.”
