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GBIG NEWS | 70 Stories and Links on the Internet 06/21/2023

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GBIG News

Get links to the latest news, events, stories, and interviews from our 5P news members. Our goal is to remind the decision-makers in Wisconsin of the importance of our industry both historically, and more importantly, into the future.

Read the latest 70 Stories and Links on the Internet below.

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Business Leaders Meet for New North Summit

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The Power of Place is the theme of the annual New North Summit which occurred June 8 at the Lambeau Field Atrium, Green Bay. GBIG appreciates all that New North does as a catalyst for regional prosperity. Barb LaMue, President and CEO of New North does a phenomenal job implementing regional strategies for business growth and talent development.

Barb LaMue clapping
Barb LaMue

Building Your Brand Through the Interview Process

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By Diane Mitchell, Managing Partner, Global Recruiters of Green Bay

While we’re hearing news of layoffs in some sectors, the demand for technical skills in manufacturing remains high in Wisconsin. To attract, hire, and retain top talent, it’s worth considering the critical role the candidate experience plays during their interviewing process. A positive experience not only reflects well on your organization’s brand but also increases the likelihood of securing the best candidates. By implementing effective strategies to manage your candidate’s experience, you can build strong relationships, promote transparency, and leave a lasting impression.

Diane Mitchell
  • Create a welcoming atmosphere – from the first phone screen to the moment the candidate steps foot into your organization, keep in mind that they are interviewing you as a potential boss and employer. Greet candidates warmly, provide introductions, and share information on the role and company to ease nerves while setting a positive tone for the interview.
  • Provide timely updates – transparent and consistent communication is essential throughout the interviewing process. Clearly communicate the steps and timeline. Provide updates to candidates 24-48 hours after an interview even if it’s to inform them of a rejection. Every candidate has thanked me for letting them know where they stand in the process regardless of whether or not the news is disappointing. Ghosting candidates isn’t just bad behavior, it also impacts your brand. The candidate won’t apply for other roles and will tell their peers to stay away.
  • Streamline the process – candidates will lose patience and become frustrated if the process takes too long or has too many steps. The best companies can work through their process in two weeks. Carefully consider if you need an extra assessment or interview step. The delay may give another company time to start and finish their interview process, ‘stealing’ your top candidate.

Even if you’ve selected your top candidate, it doesn’t mean the applicant has selected you as an employer. The candidate will most likely consider the recruiting process as a crucial part of their decision. By focusing on creating a compelling candidate experience, companies can be sure to leave a positive impression and enhance their brand image.

GB Chamber Recognizes Businesses & Individuals

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Three GBIG members were honored at the Greater Green Bay Chamber Business Recognition Luncheon Awards & Showcase. Fiberglass Solutions LLC received the Growth Award; Green Bay Packaging received the Special Accomplishment Award for its Mill Reclaimed Water Project, and Bill Koehne, owner of Packerland Websites, was a Top 3 finalist in the Business Person of the Year Contest.

Table with Business Recognition Luncheon card
Photos by Shayna Marie Wild & Free

Fiberglass Solutions LLC: Ben and Amy Bertram purchased Fiberglass Solutions LLC in 2018, with a vision of growth and expansion. From 2018 to 2021, the company experienced year-over-year, double- digit sales growth before stabilizing in 2022 at $3.24M. Fiberglass Solutions LLC is on pace for almost $4M in 2023.

Green Bay Packaging: When GBP built its new mill, the first in Wisconsin in over 35 years, the company chose to be more water-resilient with reclaimed water use. This avoided the need to direct intake or discharge to the Fox River and reduced water withdrawal from the Great Lakes waterbody. GBP partnered with NEW Water to reclaim municipal wastewater for reuse in papermaking.

Bill Koehne, owner of Packerland Websites, started building websites on a whim and now the company has over 500 website clients. Bill, who serves as a GBIG director, donated over $60,000 in website services to nonprofits in 2022 alone and over a quarter of a million dollars over the past five years. Bill excels as a marketing mentor to businesses and nonprofits.

Nearly 500 attendees honored area businesses and individuals at the annual Business Recognition Luncheon Awards & Showcase held at the KI Convention Center in downtown Green Bay.

The event serves to honor individuals’ and companies’ achievements, growth, innovation, and exceptional business practices in Greater Green Bay. Finalists were recognized and recipients announced in five award categories.

The 2023 award recipients are:

  • Cornerstone Award: Georgia-Pacific
  • Entrepreneurial Award: FAVORYT Brand
  • Growth Award: Fiberglass Solutions LLC
  • Special Accomplishment Award: Green Bay Packaging
  • Business Person of the Year: Ben Schill, CEO, Paper Transport

“Today’s gathering was truly enjoyable as we celebrated the remarkable achievements of our thriving business community.” said Eric DeKorne, Chamber Vice President of Development. “The companies and individuals present here have made a significant impact on the community, and their unwavering dedication to success and progress plays a pivotal role in fostering the community’s growth and vitality.”

Swing Big with GBIG with over 150 registered golfers and 25 exhibitors and guests.

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Big group of people

Swing Big with GBIG was an outstanding event with over 150 registered golfers, 25 exhibitors and guests. We want to thank Steve Van Dyke President of the Green Bay Innovation Group for putting the golf outing together plus all the golfers! We want to thank Packerland Websites for sponsoring a hole to win $10,000 and the other twenty-five-hole sponsors!

The foursome representing CG Bretting Manufacturing Company of Ashland won the golf outing, shooting a 54. Adam Kohlbeck of Basic Metals, Germantown, won $475 in the 50/50 raffle. He participated in Swing Big with GBIG as a guest of McClone Insurance, Menasha.

Thank You,
Green Bay Innovation Group Board of Directors

  • Four men from Personal Packaging Systems
  • Six golfers from Amundsen Davis
  • Marty Ochs with four golfers from Legacy Flexo
  • Joan and Bill Koehne from Packerland Websites with four other golfers
  • Four golfers from Green Bay Packaging
  • Marty Oaks with a golfer from Apricity
  • Four golfers from Amundsen

Quad Plus: Are you familiar with power factor correction and its purpose for avoiding costly penalties?

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Are you having problems with your power distribution at your plant or factory? It is crucial to get up to speed with power factor correction to avoid costly penalty fees and other inefficiencies for your equipment operation.

It is common for plant maintenance engineers and factory managers to be stumped by penalty fees and how to eliminate them.

Quad Plus’s recent power factor correction study highlighted the importance of understanding and prioritizing power correction.

Read on for everything you need to know about power factor correction, the study, and how to contact a power services expert.

What Is Power Factor?

Electrician on phone below power lines

Power factor is a measure that indicates the ratio of real power (the power equipment needs to operate) to apparent power (also known as reactive power). However, when your power factor is too high or low, it can lead to penalty fees.

For example, if you have a low power factor, you cause strain on the grid. Your utility company instates penalty fees to help you pay attention to your power distribution and consider power factor correction.

Power Factor Correction

Power factor correction capacitors help you avoid paying costly penalty fees and improve the efficiency of your power use. There are a variety of reasons to use power factor correction, including:

  • Reducing carbon footprint
  • Avoiding penalty fees
  • Stabilizing voltage
  • Reducing maximum power
  • Increasing useful kW load without risk

There are many benefits of power factor correction. Sometimes it can be tricky to determine the cause of the high penalty and how to eliminate it. This is why it is important to contact a plant engineer to ensure power factor correction is correctly installed.

Power Factor Correction Study

Quad Plus carried out a power factor correction study to help identify the cause of penalty fees and eliminate them for one of our customers. We used data from their recent power bills to understand the charges and rates. We then identified the best solution with power factor correction.

We found that penalty fees were eliminated as soon as the equipment was installed, and the amount of reactive power flow was reduced. The power factor correction equipment also paid for itself within the year due to the reduced cost of power bills from the utility company.

The results also highlighted the need for power education from a power services expert, so companies can begin to take charge of the costs for their plant or factory.

Identify and Eliminate Costly Penalty Fees

Our recent power factor correction study highlighted how quickly penalty fees can be eliminated. However, plants and factories need support from power experts to find solutions.

The best power factor correction depends on the individual case. A power factor correction study needs to be done to find the best solution for your plant or factory.

Are you looking to identify and eliminate penalty fees fast? Contact Jim Woulf from Quad Plus at (920) 515-4155 or via email at jwoulf@quadplus.com to get the assistance you need.

How the State of Wisconsin Can Prosper, Share and Lead the way Supporting the Approval of Building a New Engineering Building at UW Madison

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UW Madison College of Engineering logo

The Packaging, Paper, Plastics, Printing, Pulp, Converting, Forestry and Supporting Industries are the backbone of the Wisconsin Manufacturing economy with plants located across the State of Wisconsin in BIG Cities and Small Cities! The combined employment exceeds over 150,000 employees!

The approval of the NEW Engineering Building at UW Madison is critical to support and grow our manufacturing base. We have seen 100% support from the Manufacturing Organizations and other supporting organizations. We are asking the Joint Finance and the State to reconsider the inclusion of this critical project in the 2023-2025 capital budget. We congratulate UW Madison for committing to raising $150 million from Private Gifts and Donations, contingent on state support of the project. Delaying this project would mean additional costs upward of $28 million.

GBIG News: Ashwaubenon Glory Road

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As we continue taking our tour of the Ashwaubenon industrial areas, we are focusing on companies near or on Glory Road and the concentration of companies that were created from the Paper Industry and very dependent on it.

Outside MECA
MECA
  • NPS Holding LLC is focused on sustainable packaging, dispensers, towels, napkins, wipes, tissue, and specialty products selling worldwide.
  • Green Bay Packaging Coated Products Division offers paper and film pressure-sensitive label stock for a wide variety of labeling applications, including primary package decoration, thermal transfer, and direct thermal printing.
  • Paper Converting Machine Corporation and BW Converting are in Bag Converting, Tissue Converting, Tissue Packaging, Nonwovens Converting, Flexographic Printing, Digital Printing servicing world base of customers.
  • Green Bay Nonwovens/Suominen creates innovative and sustainable nonwovens for customers worldwide producing roll goods for wipes and other applications.
  • Legacy Flexo is a premier printing company with eleven flexographic presses servicing a wide range of capabilities with 10 color printing presses. Legacy prints on film, paper and nonwovens servicing a nationwide base of customers.

GBIG NEWS | 7 Stories and Links on the Internet 06/13/2023

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GBIG News

Get links to the latest news, events, stories, and interviews from our 5P news members. Our goal is to remind the decision-makers in Wisconsin of the importance of our industry both historically, and more importantly, into the future.

Read the latest 7 Stories and Links on the Internet below.

UW Madison

Supporting the New Engineering Building

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UW Madison College of Engineering logo

How can two outstanding communities prosper, share success, and lead the way in the 5P Industries? By supporting a new engineering building at UW-Madison. Unfortunately, the Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee withheld approval for a new College of Engineering building, despite $150M of the project’s $347M budget coming from private donations. The current College of Engineering building was constructed in 1907.

Ian Robertson, Grainger Dean of the UW-Madison College of Engineering, has an urgent request for CEOs in the 5P Industries. He’s asking you to consider signing a letter to present to state legislators, expressing support for a new building for the College of Engineering. If you are willing to add your name and company to this letter, please email russ.johnson@wisc.edu by Thursday, June 15.

Currently, the Green Bay Innovation Group is involved in two high-impact UW-Madison initiatives. GBIG is collaborating with George Huber, Professor of Chemical Engineering at UW-Madison and director of the $12.5 million Center for Chemical Upcycling of Waste Plastics (CUWP). CUWP is working with plastic converters to convert hard-to-recycle plastic into high quality resins. After CUWP successfully completes this pilot project, CUWP plans to design the first commercial converting facility in Green Bay. Green Bay has an opportunity to gain national recognition for plastic recycling. Currently, over 45,000 Wisconsin residents are employed in the Plastics Industry, plus 25,000 in Flexible Packaging, Nonwoven, supporting Manufacturing, and Construction! A new commercial plastic recycling center would be a great financial benefit to Green Bay and the State of Wisconsin.

Another remarkable innovation stemming from UW-Madison is an experimental fusion machine which produces sustainable, locally generated process heat. Recently, Dr. Ben Lindley, Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics at UW-Wisconsin, sent an update regarding this research project. Read Dr. Lindley’s letter. Dr. Lindley is working with a local startup company to develop a lower cost and less complex modular fusion reactor utilizing abundant fuel sources to provide a new, zero-carbon source of heat and power. The financial and environmental impact would be huge for Wisconsin industries! Dr. Lindley sent me a request for introductions to the paper and pulp companies in Northeast Wisconsin, and we are moving forward on it.

These are just two examples of the exceptional research underway at UW-Madison. What other breakthroughs are possible? Wisconsin needs to come together in a non-bipartisan manner to vote YES to approve a new Engineering Building. Without it, UW-Madison will lose professors, students, and major engineering innovations to other universities.

I lived in the Green Bay area for 27 years, and I lived in the Madison area for 27 years. In both communities, I have been involved in the business community. I am extremely comfortable and well-connected in both communities by building strong, trusting relationships.

Northeastern Wisconsin is a world class innovative manufacturing center with a big emphasis on the 5P (Paper, Pulp, Plastic, Print and Packaging) and Converting industries. Green Bay has earned the title of the “Toilet Paper Capital of the World” and the “Converting Corridor of the United States.” U.S. News & World Report recently ranked Green Bay as the No. 1 metro area in the nation to live.

Madison ranked as one of the best places in the United States to live, against the backdrop of the acclaimed institution, UW-Wisconsin. The college is ranked as one of the best educational institutions in the world! The Madison area has an abundance of Advanced Manufacturing, Agriculture, Food, Healthcare, Information Technology and Bioscience.

The State of Wisconsin is in dire need of engineers in all fields, to continue to build on our manufacturing success across Wisconsin. Contact your State Representatives, and ask them to VOTE YES to building the new state-of-the-art College of Engineering facility.

Green Bay Innovation Group

Bringing Green Bay Companies Together. Green Bay Innovation Group is committed to building an authentic networking experience where innovation can thrive.

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