Throughout the year, I have been sharing information on the significant rate increases that many carriers are taking place in commercial property and casualty insurance. 19 straight quarters of rate increases says it all.
Two Important factors creating headwinds today include:
Cyber Crime Insurance Rates are Up over 25% Commercial Auto Rates have Risen for 44 Straight Quarters (CIAB, Q2 2002)
If your commercial insurance renewal is approaching and your agent has not communicated your renewal strategy to you, it probably means you are in for large increase in your premium.
Mitigating these rate increases is possible, but it requires an independent agency that loss prevention and other professional services that can guide you through the process. We are The Knowledge Brokers™, let one of our commercial insurance consultants help you. Please give me a call or visit us at myknowledgebroker.com to learn more.
It is said, that China and the iPad were the demise of the paper industry. We can’t control the iPad. However, we can control and determine the future of the paper industry in Wisconsin and the USA. China has a lot of issues in their paper and pulp industries (See Below). China closing and shutting down the older paper mills and putting in new state of the art tissue, fine paper and corrugated paper machines. China has major issues with power, fires, water, labor and pulp resources. Wisconsin has the resources to support the paper industry and we ALL have to move forward to re-build Wisconsin’s paper and pulp industries. Paper built Wisconsin and the geopolitical, logistics, supply chain issues and resources will put Wisconsin in a very favorable position to support our printing, packaging, labeling, corrugated and packaging industries with suppliers. Otherwise, these industries will be in serious trouble impacting the State of Wisconsin!
Wisconsin needs more local ownership and control of the Paper and Pulp industries supporting our local communities with a bigger tax base and employment opportunities. We have seen over the past year a number of Private Equity companies purchasing paper and pulp mills in Wisconsin. In addition, we have seen two Asia companies purchase Paper and Pulp mills and a Mexico Based Company purchase of Midwest Paper Group in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin has a very large base of customers in the Great Lakes Region within a 5 hour radius. Northeastern Wisconsin has become the HUB of the Paper, Pulp, Printing, Packaging, Converting and Manufacturing Industries.
Logistics: Short shipping distances to the customers reducing freight costs!
Experienced and Educated Manufacturing Base of Vendors supplying services to the paper and pulp industries to shorten the supply lines to keep paper machines running!
Wisconsin has Great supporting Universities and Technical Colleges supporting the 5P and Converting Industries and providing high skilled jobs to them building new paper machines, etc.
Wisconsin has an experienced workforce familiar with the paper and pulp industry with exceptional pay and benefits to retain their talent! A new machine would ADD highly skilled jobs in areas that need it.
Wisconsin has access to our tremendous Northern Forests, Minnesota, Michigan and Canada for supplying pulp and raw material! A new paper machine would add more jobs in our remote forest areas.
Wisconsin has a large number of companies building machinery for export to Asia and other areas around the world focusing on automation. A paper machine in Wisconsin would be a great benefit to Wisconsin to support our local economy with jobs, etc.
Wisconsin has fresh water that is needed to support the paper manufacturing industries with new technologies in water preservation being developed in Wisconsin. China and Asia have used up or polluted their water supply with dwindling fresh water resources. Wisconsin has a number of organizations and Universities supporting and educating us on the importance of water providing a lot of data and research to protect our fresh water resources supporting the Paper and Pulp industries.
Wisconsin has tremendous Manufacturing capabilities to shorten the supply chain supporting the Paper and Pulp Industries and we would create a lot of new job and new businesses for local companies.
The Green Bay Chamber and the New North have made very good inroads to Italy, etc. to bring in European equipment companies to set up US companies in NE Wisconsin.
We have seen states like Mississippi, etc. create very attractive deals for the paper and converting industries. However, they do not have the support services like Wisconsin can offer these companies.
Wisconsin has become a major transportation hub supporting the 5P, Converting and Manufacturing Industries.
UW Wisconsin Madison has a number of patents and support services for the bio-fuel industries. With the increase of fuel costs and the movement to environmental friendly fuels, this would be a great opportunity to support a number of Wisconsin Industries. With the shutdown of some of our pulp mills, we could set up a bio-mass facility on sight.
The State of Wisconsin has a large cash surplus supporting our citizens, industries, universities, and our infrastructure. The State of Wisconsin would support the Paper and Pub industries.
A healthy pulp and paper industry contribute to healthy forestry practices and sustainability of Wisconsin forests. This will reduce the risk of damaging forest fires, improve wildlife habitat, reduce carbon in the atmosphere, support our fresh water programs reduce carbon in the atmosphere, and support our recreation and tourism.
A healthy lumber industry supports Northern Wisconsin and our Wisconsin Tribal Nations.
The Paper Industry is tied to renewable energy production to be used to support the needs of the state?
UW Madison Wisconsin Energy Institute has tremendous resources in the Bio-Fuel Research Technologies to combat rising energy prices and reduce our carbon emission and create hundreds of jobs as energy prices rises. The Paper Industry uses their waste pulp products as an energy source! The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center is focused on advancing a competitive and environmentally sustainable biofuel economy.
The Paper Industry can be tied to the states agriculture industry through the use of alternative pulp sources for new product innovations. For example, Paper and Forestry products are and can be used by the dairy or pet industry for animal for bedding.
A BIG ISSUE is getting the environment permits to upgrade current paper machines or add new paper machines. Wisconsin has some options with current facilities: The GP Day Street Mill, Wisconsin Rapids, Park Falls, Clearwater, ST. Paper LLC., Midwest Paper, Neenah and others etc. I expect Cities like Peshtigo, Marinette, Niagara, Port Edwards, Nekoosa, Rhinelander, Wausau and others would support a new paper and pulp mill.
Company Executives are working to de-globalize their production due to the lack of parts, improve lead times, shortages of material, bottle necks and sky rocketing shipping costs! Simply, the buzzwords on-shoring, re-shoring or near shoring are appearing in trade journals and articles at a much greater clip especially in the first 6 months of 2022 and the trend will continue! We can no longer trust or depend on China for paper supply and other goods.
Green Bay Packaging is the first company to build a paper mill in Wisconsin for the past 40 years building a state of the art facility…made in Wisconsin! We have seen construction of manufacturing in the USA soar 116% over the past year. If you just take a tour of De Pere, the impact of the 5P, Converting and supporting Manufacturing Industries is very apparent with tremendous growth and expansions!
The upcoming PLACON Recycling ecostar Tour in Madison has been rescheduled from Wednesday to Friday on November 18, 2022 starting at 10:00 am. You can register online for the FREE event by going to www.greenbayinnovationgroup.com – EVENTS – PLACON recycling tour. For scheduling purposes, we would appreciate signing up for planning and security purposes. We will meet at the visitor parking lot on 6096 McKee Road, Madison, WI. Placon requires you wear closed toed and closed heeled shoes. Placon will provide safety glass and bump caps. The EcoStar facility reclaims, recycles and extrudes post-consumer recycled (PET) for packaging and recycling it for reuse. Placon launched a new ecostar plastics website. Go to www.placon.com for more information. After the event, we will go out for lunch.
We would like to thank George Huber UW Madison Professor of Chemical Engineering and Kevin Nelson at Amcor for an outstanding presentation at Amcor.
Finally, we want to thank First Business Bank, The New Manufacturing Alliance and Insight Publications, LLC. hosting the Manufacturing First at the Resch Center on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. The event drew over 1,000 people.
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 73 Stories and Links on the Internet below.
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 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.
APPLETON, Wis., October 13, 2022 – Appvion, a leading provider of direct thermal paper and film and renewable, fiber-based solutions, is celebrating the 115th anniversary of its establishment. This milestone reflects the company’s strong foundation in material science and value-added application of chemistries onto substrates.
Appvion began in 1907 when Charles S. Boyd believed he could add value to paper by applying a coating to make it more printable. At the time, paper machines could not make and coat paper in a single operation, creating a market niche for independent paper converters. As the organization progressed, team members continued to generate value for customers by evolving this philosophy into various substrates and improving the functionality of their solutions for end users. Today, Appvion’s solutions are part of many tickets, tags, labels, and packages consumers touch daily.
“Our 115-year history as a leading coating solutions provider is a reflection of our organization’s ability to advance within evolving markets,” said Laurie Andriate, Appvion President & CEO. “Our dedicated and passionate team has shaped Appvion into the company it is today. A healthy work community is our most valuable asset, and we are proud of our team member track record in broadening Appvion horizons. We are committed to continuing this expansion in all our daily pursuits.”
Deep expertise in chemistry and engineering represents a key differentiator in Appvion business success. Building upon more than a century of experience, Appvion has employed chemists and scientists since 1921 to develop commercial solutions leveraging a unique blend of coating proficiency, proprietary processes, and technical know-how. These industry-leading solutions support crucial supply chains and enable critical infrastructure in various markets, including retail, healthcare, transportation, and food and beverage.
“We have nearly 400 team members who play a pivotal role in the success of our organization, and it is remarkable how far we’ve come,” said Greg Helein, Appvion Director of Operations. “It is a privilege to be part of a heritage and a steward of resources that started 115 years ago. It inspires me every single day.”
Appvion, LLC is a portfolio company of Wynnchurch Capital L.P. To learn more about Appvion’s history, visit www.appvion.com.
About Appvion
Appvion innovates sustainable specialty coating solutions that are a part of many tickets, tags, labels, and packages consumers touch daily. The company’s 115-year-long history began as a leading producer of carbonless and microencapsulation advancements. Today, its business groups have a collective focus on harnessing the power of materials science and innovation to serve a wide range of markets such as retail, healthcare, transportation, entertainment, and food packaging. Headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin, Appvion is the market leader of direct thermal paper and film products in North America and a world-class leader in renewable, fiber-based solutions for consumer and industrial packaging. Connect with us at www.appvion.com to learn more.
About Wynnchurh
Wynnchurch Capital, L.P., headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, with an office in New York and an affiliate in Canada, was founded in 1999 and is a leading middle-market private equity investment firm. Wynnchurch’s strategy is to partner with middle market companies in the United States and Canada that possess the potential for substantial growth and profit improvement. Wynnchurch Capital manages a number of private equity funds with $5.3 billion of regulatory assets under management and specializes in recapitalizations, growth capital, management buyouts, corporate carve-outs, and restructurings. For more information, please visit www.wynnchurch.com.
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