Following a year of federal funding uncertainty, the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP) led by executive director and CEO Chris Baichoo is ready to move forward. On this week’s episode of NEW Manufacturing Insights, Baichoo joins co-hosts Kate Bruns of Insight Publications and Ann Franz of the NEW Manufacturing Alliance to talk more about the past, present and future of WMEP. He says the yearlong period of uncertainty was difficult, but also clarifying in that it helped WMEP right-size its programs, focus on its mission and appreciate its partnerships.
“It’s amazing what you can live through,” he tells the co-hosts.
Baichoo says the national MEP program has faced funding threats in the past, but this past year was more serious than ever.
“That funding had been there consistently over the past 20 or 30 years, so I have to say it was a shock that it got challenged,” he says on episode 122. “How we got through it is, we had to think like a business. We’re a nonprofit business. What we did first of all was look at different scenarios and model it out financially. And we had to make a lot of tough decisions. When you have uncertainty, the longer you wait to make decisions, the worse off you are.”
WMEP is moving forward under a different sponsoring organization. After the Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing Productivity board voted to dissolve last year, sponsorship of WMEP was transferred to UW-Stout’s Center for Manufacturing Outreach Center. It has also eliminated some programs and created new ones that better align with WMEP’s mission to serve Wisconsin’s small and medium-sized manufacturers, Baichoo says.
One of those is WMEP’s new AI Navigator program, a partnership with MKE Tech Hub that is launching next week on May 13.
“There’s so many pieces to this that I’m really excited will help give more direction, and you know we always say we’re the trusted adviser — and this is a great opportunity to demonstrate that value,” Baichoo says on the podcast.
Listen to the full episode anywhere you get audio podcasts to hear more insights from Baichoo, including what he considers his best nugget of leadership wisdom.
The NEW Manufacturing Insights podcast is sponsored by Stoke RGA throughout 2026 and is produced by Woodward Community Media. NEW Manufacturing Insights is free and available everywhere you listen to audio podcasts. New episodes are released on Thursdays.
