The NEW Manufacturing Alliance (NEWMA) marked its 20th anniversary with a special membership meeting at Great North Commons in Green Bay Wednesday. More than 200 members attended.
NEWMA formed June 6, 2006, with 12 members and grown to more than 400. About 250 of those members are manufacturers that employ more than half the manufacturing workforce in the 18-county New North region.
The organization, which brings manufacturers together to promote manufacturing and grow talent through partnerships with educators, has seen success with many of its early goals: It has seen a 300 percent increase in manufacturing-related program enrollments at local tech colleges, and it has given $600,000-plus in scholarships to area students.
The organization also was a catalyst in establishing engineering bachelor’s degree programs at both UW-Oshkosh and UW-Green Bay. NEWMA also has established popular employee skill-building courses in Industry 4.0 areas like AI and data analytics, and launched Get Real Math! Videos, Internship Draft Day, and expanded opportunities in career exploration and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) courses.
The Manufacturing First Expo and Conference was created by Insight and NEWMA. The organization also partners with Insight on the NEW Manufacturing Insights podcast, which now has more than 100 episodes.
Wednesday’s meeting kicked off with a panel of early NEWMA founders, including now-retired former owner and CEO of EMT International Paul Raucher, retired former owner and CEO of Lindquist Machine Mark Kaiser, and Jim Golembeski, who is retired from the Bay Area Workforce Development Board. Additional panels featured K-16 partners, and task force members.
At the interactive meeting, participants were asked to help shape the next 20 years ahead.
“The feedback you give today will directly impact and direct NEWMA’s board for their strategic planning session that’s going to happen this fall,” said Ann Franz, executive director of NEWMA. Attendees were asked to respond to live poll questions including on favorite NEWMA events, activities and programs.
They also were asked to participate in roundtable discussions on the future of NEWMA, responding to questions about what the organization should change or keep doing, how manufacturing talent may change in the next 5 to 10 years and the potential impact of AI, and what bold initiatives NEWMA should consider tackling.
NEWMA’s next event is July 22, when it will host a Taps & Tours event at Graetz Manufacturing from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
