The NEW Manufacturing Alliance’s 11th annual “Excellence in Manufacturing/K-12 Partnerships Awards” will be held Tuesday, October 25, 2022 at the new Resch Expo in Green Bay. Cocktail reception begins at 4:30 p.m. The dinner and awards program will begin at 6:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.
This year’s winners are:
2022 EDUCATION AWARD WINNERS
Brighter Image – Manitowoc Lutheran High School
Career Pathmaker – Administrator – Jason Johnson, N.E.W. School of Innovation / GBAPS
Career Pathmaker – Educator – Kari Mueller, CESA 6
Career Pathmaker – Tech Ed Teacher – Jon Larson, Little Chute School District
Education Innovation – Appleton East – Tesla Charter School
Higher Education Award – Mary Hansen, Fox Valley Technical College
Manufacturing Partnership – Waupaca School District
2022 MANUFACTURER AWARD WINNERS
Brighter Image – SMT Machine & Tool
Educational Partnership – Amcor Cares Foundation
Leadership – CMD Corporation
Manufacturing Innovation – AriensCo
Visionary – Ryan Scherer, Miller Electric Mfg. Co.
Youth Apprenticeship – A to Z Machine Company, Inc.
2022 COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP WINNER
Community Partnership – Wisconsin Technology Education Association
We will also be recognizing the 2022 All Stars at the event. Companies that have an employee being recognized are: ATI, EMT International, Fincantieri Ace Marine, Heartland Label Printers, KI, MilliporeSigma, Plexus, Rockline Industries and Suburban Enterprises.
New North Inc will sponsor a state and regional economic intel forum, Sustainability Movement & Electrification of Vehicles from 11am-1pm Monday, Oct. 31, at St. Norbert College Bemis Center. Speakers include Craig Thompsons, WDOT, Professor Marc Shaffer, and Rob Reich, Schneider.
Dr. Asad Azemi, professor and chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
The University of Wisconsin-Platteville College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science is now offering a new undergraduate degree in computer engineering. The program launched this fall with several students already declaring the major. Previously, computer engineering was only offered as an emphasis under electrical engineering. According to Dr. Asad Azemi, professor and chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the new program supports major themes in the university’s strategic plan.
“It provides another choice for incoming or current students and complements our existing electrical engineering, computer science and software engineering degrees,” he said. “There are many jobs available in computer engineering, and this degree will enable us to better serve our constituents.”
Azemi calls the launch of the new major exciting. He explained how students have been asking for a computer engineering degree.
“The department started working on adding this degree a few years ago, and we are anticipating a growth in our overall enrollment,” said Azemi. “We have a hands-on approach that relies on team-based developments, ending with real-world capstone projects to provide students with the knowledge, skills and aptitude needed to contribute to the societal well-being and economic development of the state of Wisconsin, the Tri-State region, the nation and the world.”
As students enter the field of computer engineering, Azemi acknowledged how the industry is continuing to expand. He said professional opportunities are vast with employment being associated with designing, building, maintaining hardware in modern computers and maintaining operation for computer-based networking.
“As computers become more integrated into our everyday life, computer engineers are more in demand,” he said. “It’s another quality program added to the university. The place of computer engineering as a degree was needed. We fulfilled a need. Hopefully, we will contribute to the growth of the university and provide more opportunities to our students to explore different majors.”
The Lake States TAPPI Energy Forum is a month away … please consider signing up for the highly anticipated educational event scheduled for November 3rd in Neenah, WI. This year we are pleased to have Luke Thompson as our Keynote speaker talking about “Consumption Junction – What’s your Path to Net Zero”. The Eventbrite link is shown below, in blue, for your ease in registering and reserving your spot for this event. This year we are limited to the total number of in-person participants, and we have to limit the group to a maximum of 75 persons, so please register early to reserve your spot.
I would also like to thank everyone who participated in this year’s Fall Sporting Shoot, we had a great turn-out, everyone had a lot of fun, and most importantly we had an opportunity to socialize with our fellow industry leaders while raising money to support the educational endeavors of students from our industry.
Thank you for your continued support of Lakes States TAPPI. All event proceeds and donations from all LST events are utilized to fund student scholarships and other educational endeavors related to the pulp/paper and allied industries. This year we are positioning ourselves to donate over $28,000 in scholarships to pulp and paper students and to organizations that support the growth and development of our industry… Thank you for your support.
Please call me with any questions regarding getting more involved with your local Lake States TAPPI Chapter, and to learn more about how your time and contributions further the growth and development of local students and the longevity of our industry.
Women in the 5P Industries (Wi5P) will meet for a Tuesday Tacos social at 5:30pm Tuesday, Nov. 1 at Titletown Brewing Company, 320 N. Broadway, Green Bay. RSVP to Cassie, cassie.diedrick@robinsoninc.com or Emily, ehaines27@gmail.com. All women involved in the printing, paper, pulp, plastic, and packaging industries are welcome to attend.
Packaging Corporation of America Wallula Mill is a paper and pulp mill that employs 430 workers and has about 10 job openings at any given time. The mill produces linerboard and medium for PCA box plants and is always looking to source its applicant pool with potential employees. This summer, PCA took advantage of a fantastic outreach opportunity by sponsoring a minor league baseball game.
Sponsoring Marvel Night at the Ballpark
Twice a year, the Tri-City Dust Devils, a minor league baseball team in the Los Angeles Angels franchise, celebrate Marvel Night at the ballpark in Pasco, WA. It’s a popular event and a fan favorite. On July 15, 2022, PCA sponsored Marvel Defenders of the Diamond Family Feast Night. Fans enjoyed $2 hot dogs and $1 chips, soda, and ice cream sandwiches. They also learned about the mill and its career opportunities. Prior to the event, the Tri-City Dust Devils promoted the game on social media and the radio. They used the tagline “Presented by PCA,” which gave PCA great exposure before a diverse audience.
Generating Interest in Manufacturing Careers
The PCA staff set up a booth at the ballpark to:
Engage with fans to create interest in the mill
Display the pumps used at the mill to explain manufacturing processes
Generate interest in job openings by describing benefits, pay, training, opportunities to advance, and other perks
Give away cups and baseballs with the PCA logo and QR code to the PCA website where careers are listed and candidates can apply for a job
Partner with high school teachers to recruit students for entry-level positions and apprenticeships
Touting the Benefits of PCA Employment
In the first hour of the event, PCA gave away 400 cups and 200 baseballs. They went like hotcakes! Throughout the night, fans stopped by the PCA booth asking for more – another opportunity to reach job-seekers. Parents took home information about careers for their adult children and kids picked up baseballs to show their parents. PCA reps told everyone about the starting wage and ability to make over $60,000 in the first year, with overtime.
Building PCA’s Reputation in the Community
The more PCA does these kinds of corporate sponsorship events, the more people in the community will be interested in the mill. Although the mill didn’t see an immediate rush of job seekers at its doorstep, PCA had a fantastic opportunity to expand its name recognition and show community support. Sponsoring the minor league baseball game was a big win for PCA, and the mill committed to sponsoring Marvel Night in 2023, too.
Sourcing the Applicant Pool
Today’s job seekers have a slew of career opportunities to choose from. When you’re sourcing an applicant pool, it helps to have a superhero on your side – whether it’s a Marvel character at a baseball game or the 15dots® employee selection team at your side. Contact us to learn how to repeatedly, reliably, and independently choose the right hires.
About 15dots: 15 Dots LLC, based in Neenah, Wisconsin, trains HR leaders and organizational personnel to adopt a rigorous employee selection process that is repeatable, scalable, and teachable. 15dots refers to five ability tests and 10 behavior-based interview dimensions critical to employee selection. When employers match people with jobs, good things happen. Not only does production increase, but employee engagement and job satisfaction increase as well.
Wisconsin is the No. 1 paper-producing state in the U.S., and the pulp and paper industry accounts for 30,614 jobs, according to statistics released by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Forestry is the No. 1 employer in 10 counties in Wisconsin and one of the Top 10 industries by employment and output.
The past couple of years, we have witnessed a number of paper companies in Wisconsin purchased by Private Equity Firms. Based on business goals, it is questionable to expect them to re-invest in the Paper Industry.
We have witnessed Pixelle Specialty Paper close down one paper mill and invest $26 million in an Ohio facility. We have seen Wynnchurch Capital L.P. owners of Appvion announced a significant investment in new equipment slated for delivery and installation in 2023.
We have seen ND Paper in China purchasing the former Verso Paper Mill and 3 other mills in the USA. We are seeing Domtar being purchased by Paper Excellence based out of Asia with paper mills in Wisconsin along with the most recent purchase of Resolute Forest Products with a paper mill in Menominee, Michigan.
We have seen Billerudkorsnas of Sweden purchase the former Verso Company with facilities in Wisconsin and the UP of Michigan. We have seen Sustana Fiber in De Pere being acquired by Blackstone Tactical a Private Equity Firm. Finally, the former Midwest Paper Group in Combined Locks sold to Mexico-based Company McKinley Paper a U.S. subsidiary of Mexico-based Bio PAPPEL.
In 2018, we saw WS Packaging the 14th largest Printing Company in the USA with annual revenues of $1.4 Billion based in Green Bay purchased by Platinum Equity and resold a number of times leaving Green Bay as their headquarters.
The Business Community and the State of Wisconsin must prepare a comprehensive plan to support the current paper mills and help them reinvest in Wisconsin through new machines or rebuild existing facilities instead of leaving Wisconsin! We are seeing too many new paper machines being built outside of Wisconsin and the United States. Wisconsin has ALL the RESOURCES to make paper in Wisconsin and to keep Wisconsin as the top paper producing state in the USA!
In this issue of GBIG NEWS, we have many articles supporting the case of the need for paper projecting very positive compound annual growth rates! The Paper Industry is not going away and actual projections support it as a strong industry to invest in. As in any industry, we do see some changes and we can adjust to it.
China is the largest consumer of paper and paperboard at 124,826 tons followed by the USA at 63,567. In addition, consumer markets are putting pressure on reducing plastics, which will have a very positive impact on using more paper products. Some elements of the printing industry are currently turning to films due to the shortages of the paper supply. This market can be reclaimed through the influx of new paper capacity.
As of today, BillerudKorsnäs is simplifying its name to Billerud to cater to its international customers. As a leading supplier of virgin fiber-based paper and packaging materials, the name change is fully in line with the company’s strategy to expand into North America and continue driving sustainable growth in global markets. It is simply easier to say Billerud.
” We are now ready to meet the challenges of the future as one company: Billerud. One year ago, a clear strategic plan was drawn up with the aim of achieving profitable and sustainable sales growth until the year 2030 and to grow in North America. Today we change name to Billerud. The name change is a natural step on our strategic journey”, says Christoph Michalski, President and CEO at Billerud.
The name simplification to Billerud will be implemented throughout the group starting today. Billerud’s roots and heritage in the forest and paper industry go back more than 150 years and the company has had several different names.
”It is with pride that Billerud will carry its history into the present. What won’t change is the fact that we help our customers reduce their climate footprint of both their primary and secondary packaging. For us, product superiority is important and the impressive strength of our papers allow customers to use less packaging, save costs and reduce their carbon footprint. We will continue doing that as Billerud”, says Christoph Michalski.
As of today, Billerud’s website is called billerud.com, and all employees will have the email address billerud.com.
Scott Anderson,Co-Owner, Director of Stakeholder Stewardship, Artisan Dental
Sustainable Leadership – Champion Finalists
Jessica Quinlan, ESG and Sustainability Coordinator, Kohls
Melita Nasca, Community Gardens
Scott Loucks, Sustainability Manager, Mercury Marine
Green Bay Innovation Group
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