The NEW Manufacturing Alliance is celebrating 15 years of striving toward the organization’s vision of every Northeast Wisconsin manufacturer finding the talent it needs. On Wednesday, more than 200 people gathered for the organization’s anniversary celebration at Lambeau Field.
The celebration included an overview of the alliance’s beginning in 2006, the accomplishments over the past 15 years and the future of the organization. John Kuhn, former Green Bay Packer All Pro fullback, spoke to attendees about leadership and teamwork.
The alliance formed in 2006 with 12 members. Today, the membership has grown to more than 300 members. It has awarded more than $325,000 in scholarships to students pursuing a manufacturing degree and leveraged over $1 million in training grants for area companies.
The alliance worked directly with New North colleges and universities to create bachelor-degreed engineering technology programs with over 300 students now enrolled. Since 2005, local technical colleges have seen increases in enrollment and graduation rates of more than 300 percent of manufacturing-related programs.
“I still remember being at the start-up meeting on June 6, 2006, when we formulated the goals and vision for the Alliance. Now due to that day, we have Manufacturing First Expo, Internship Draft Day, Excellence in Manufacturing/K-12 Partnerships Awards and Get Real Math videos,” said Ann Franz, executive director of NEWMA.
One of the first efforts of the organization was changing the image of manufacturing careers. Since 2009, the alliance’s annual All Stars magazine has spotlighted 12 outstanding manufacturing employees. Award winners are showcased in the annual publication devoted to manufacturing careers. More than 250,000 magazines have reached the hands of students and parents. Click here to view the 2021 All Stars online publication.
NEWMA is poised for another 15 years of continuing its work in promoting and finding the talent its manufacturers need to remain prosperous in Northeast Wisconsin, Franz said.
