Jen Fietz, owner and CEO of the firm serving as the official 2026 NEW Manufacturing Insights podcast sponsor — Stoke RGA, joins co-host Ann Franz of the Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance on this week’s episode of the NEW Manufacturing Insights podcast to discuss studies and trends that paint a picture of the manufacturing industry heading into 2026. Regular co-host Kate Bruns, Insight’s manufacturing editor, was under the weather for this week’s recording but will return for future episodes.
Franz opened the show by thanking Fietz for committing to a new yearlong sponsorship of the podcast, and by reviewing some of the results of NEWMA’s 2026 Manufacturing Vitality Index that was published last month.
Fietz said the index’s finding that 90% of manufacturers are financially healthy was a highlight.
“We’ve been feeling like they’re in good spaces … but we just did not have the quantitative numbers to tell us that,” she said on the episode. “I don’t think our Northeast [Wisconsin] manufacturers get enough credit.”
Fietz went on to ring in the new year by sharing some of Stoke RGA’s 2026 manufacturing trends to watch, including technology helping run tighter operations, continued rising costs, and marketing (though Fietz shares she likes to avoid that term).
Listen to this week’s full episode for all of Franz’s and Fietz’s discussion on 2026 manufacturing trends. NEW Manufacturing Insights is released via Spreaker every Thursday and available on demand anywhere you get audio podcasts — including Apple, Google, Spotify and other platforms.
