Want to become more innovative and competitive in the Paper, Pulp and Packaging Industries? Check out this on demand webinar, hosted by GBIG, Packerland Websites, and AdvancedTek, to learn how 3D printing is disrupting these industries by expediting the time and costs to bring products to market.
Join Applications Engineer Colton Mehlhoff from Stratasys, the global leader of industrial 3D printing, as he explains how to decrease time to market and lower development cost by creating realistic full color, texture and feel product models in packaging using PolyJet 3D printing technology.
Webinar Part 2
Following Colton, you’ll hear from David Kadlec, senior application engineer at AdvancedTek, Stratasys Platinum Partner AdvancedTek, as he discusses how to save on cost and lead time by integrating manufacturing applications in Paper, Pulp and Packaging.
Webinar Part 3
Q&A session with Colton, David, and AdvancedTek’s Alan Soriano
Colton Mehlhoff
Colton is an applications engineer for PolyJet 3D printing technology at Stratasys, the global leader of industrial 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions. He is a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University where he studied Information Technology with Robotics & Artificial Intelligence. Colton enjoys teaching others about additive manufacturing, and outside of work, volunteers for High Tech Kids, Minnesota’s FIRST LEGO League, and FIRST Tech Challenge.
David Kadlec
David is a senior additive manufacturing application engineer for AdvancedTek in St. Paul, Minnesota. In addition to consulting with upper Midwest businesses on 3D printing integration and applications, David helps manage AdvancedTek’s AM lab that services its customers. He holds a mechanical engineering degree from Iowa State University, and enjoys traveling with his wife Kate, investing in real estate, and snowboarding.
Alan Soriano
lan is a business development and 3D printing solutions professional for AdvancedTek, managing the state of Wisconsin. He graduated from the University of Milwaukee with a degree in mechanical engineering, and is a longtime member of the Tripoli Shrine Motor Corps Harley Davidson stunt team which performs at more than 15 parades annually.
A commercial contractor I spoke with recently said he didn’t need a website. What he needed were more employees! In today’s tight job market, he was missing out on a golden opportunity. Why not create a website that kicks butt as a recruitment tool? As employees are hired and the organization takes on more work, the website pays for itself. The planning that goes into every website developed by Packerland Websites begins with the same important question: What are your business objectives? If you have jobs to fill, employee recruitment might be at the top of your list. How can a company use its website for recruitment? Here are 6 tips.
Give recruits a reason to choose you
Serious job seekers will research employers online before they apply for a job. An attractive, user-friendly company website will contribute to the strength of your brand. Visitors to a website should see images and text describing the company’s history, capabilities, products, and services. The employment page can tout the advantages of competitive wages, insurance benefits, 401(k), vacation, paid holidays, work schedule, etc.
Post job descriptions in real time
Companies often have more than one position open. To save time and labor, a business can post job openings in real time. A website makes it easy to announce each opening and post its job description. The job postings are readily available 24/7, convenient to anyone searching after hours.
Direct candidates to applications
The most useful recruitment feature on a website is a simple pathway to the employment opportunities pages. The link can direct candidates to the online/printable application and application instructions. An Employment Quick Link in the footer of every page also brings candidates to the application link.
Streamline application processing
Human Resources employees have automatic access to applications immediately after the applications are submitted. The website forwards applications to the staff’s email inboxes. The staff can instantaneously prequalify the candidates and advance to the next phase of the hiring process.
Update WordPress content with ease
Adaptable content for recruitment WordPress (our content management system), makes it easy for multiple users to change and update content. This flexibility is helpful at businesses because the staff is able to modify the text according to specific application requirements and processes.
Add Job Recruitment Features
Dress up your website with features that will resonate with potential employees:
Clickable “Now Hiring” button on the Home page
Employee testimonials, either written or video
“Meet our Staff” pages that include photos and professional bios
Employee profiles as Blogs and Vlogs
Job satisfaction surveys
Photos, videos, and articles that demonstrate the company culture
Compensation, training, and benefit package information prominently displayed
Contact Packerland Websites
If you have jobs to fill, are you giving recruits a good reason to choose you? Your brand is more important than ever in today’s competitive job market. Packerland Websites can help you build that brand and attract talented employees. Give us a call today, 920-826-5901.
Recruitment is critical to the success of an organization. Recruiters are the face of a company. A well-trained recruiter can be such a positive first face that a job candidate sees and a favorable example of what’s to come. Therefore, recruiters shouldn’t just be paper pushers who review applications and schedule interviews. Instead, a recruiter needs to represent the company and sell the company to a prospective employee.
Recruit Smart: Make Positive Connections
Even if job applicants aren’t ultimately qualified for available roles, the applicants are members of the community where your company sits. Thus, they will advocate for or against your company. What recruiters need to realize is that each applicant that comes into the company is a potential connection point in the community. Each person who has a positive connection or negative connection with your company is part of the woven fabric of positive or negative connections in the community. Consider these two scenarios:
Everyone I met at the interview was so welcoming.
They interviewed me, but I never heard back from them.
Be Responsive: Offer Feedback to Job Candidates
Even if the organization doesn’t hire a job candidate, it’s important to show appreciation and offer feedback to the applicant. Here’s an example of positive feedback, “We so enjoyed meeting you. We hope you apply again. We recommend you get XYZ education or experience.” Applicants walk away with a positive experience, helpful advice, and a solid connection point. Most job candidates appreciate constructive feedback from recruiters, especially developmental ideas that will help them land the right job.
Stay Positive: Build a Stellar Brand Reputation
Job applicants who had positive experiences with a recruiter are more likely to speak positively about an organization. Their comments sow the seeds of your organization’s reputation. Plus, perhaps someone they speak with will become the next rock-star employee your organization hires.
Put the Pros to Work for You: Outsource Recruitment
Many organizations outsource aspects of their hiring process to a recruiter or staffing company. Sometimes, a job candidate doesn’t know that the recruiter isn’t a member of the organization. In my experience working with external recruiters, the challenging part was ensuring that they were familiar enough with our organization and job openings to sell them to potential employees. The fact is, they might make five phone calls to recruit for your organization, but in the sixth phone call, recruit for something different altogether. Yet, they have a similar goal as internal recruiters – filling jobs.
External recruiters want to fill jobs as quickly as possible. Thus, they offer job candidates the best experience possible. They want to stay employed with their recruiting company, so it’s to their benefit to leave a positive impression. They want a candidate coming back to them personally the next time the candidate is looking for a job. In general, both internal and external recruiters need to ensure the applicant has a positive experience with the company.
Find Talent: Make Recruitment a Priority
Recruitment isn’t something you can rush through or do on the side. On the contrary, recruiters are the linchpin of an organization. Recruitment needs to be a priority for an organization because recruiters play a key role in finding and hiring the right talent. But if a job applicant isn’t a good fit, recruiters should leave them with a positive impression and useful feedback.
Elevate Employee Selection: Contact 15dots®
For more employee recruitment, selection and retention tips, contact 15dots. 15dots perfected tools and methods to elevate employee selection success above the industry norm. Let us show you how.
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.
15dots removes the “gut instinct” associated with employee selection. Consequently, hiring decisions are based on data alone. “No more guessing” is the company’s tagline. When employers match people with jobs, good things happen. Not only does production increase, but employee engagement and job satisfaction increase as well.
About the Author, Cheryl Jackson
Cheryl L. Jackson is a business consultant with a doctorate in industrial/organizational psychology. She has over 15 years of experience working with Fortune 500 companies. Cheryl specializes in selection and assessment, organizational design, and change management. She is a member of the 15dots team and has a passion for advancing employee engagement in the workplace through employee selection, development, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Cheryl is a lecturer, entrepreneur, author, and speaker promoting engagement in all areas of life.
93% of global consumers say COVID-19 influenced their views on sustainability, brands and environmental issues for product purchases. As we return to normal, business are switching more and more to eco-products with new innovative plastics and paper fiber products. We still see a lot of GREEN-WASHING of products. 62% of consumers are willing to change their buying behavior to reduce the negative impact on the environment.
We are seeing more and more bans on plastic worldwide especially in Europe, China and India with governments imposing restrictions and penalties on plastics. However, we have to recognize the full impact that plastics have on our daily lives! Simply, plastics are very inexpensive and can be used for so many packaging solutions.
Can we do without plastic…probably NOT! However, the plastics industry has to address the issue with more bio-degradable plastics without using petroleum. We have to recognize that Paper has its limitations. Number one is the cost and will the consumer pay the price for paper? Two, the USA is limited in pulp and paper production capabilities to product the products. The Wisconsin Paper Industry has tremendous opportunities to expand our paper and pulp production. Wisconsin has ALL the resources necessary to re-invent the paper, film and plastics industries! In addition, Wisconsin has tremendous resources for converting paper and film products to new innovative packaging products. The Wisconsin Paper Industry has to accept the challenge. GBIG will be bringing together our industries, government and our Universities to support one another.
Here are some examples of alternative materials that could play a significant role for the flexible packaging industry and our flexible packaging companies are leading the way!
Bio-based Plastics typically use food crops such as corn and sugarcane with both commodities readily available in surplus. However, the current supply chain will create issues and there is reluctance to using food resources for packaging products.
Polyactic acid (PLA) is a transparent sold polymer that is similar to PETE polymer but has a significant lower maximum continuous use temperature.
Poly hydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is a much eco-friendly polymer that can handle high temperatures and decompose in soil and waterways. Both alternatives are made from fermented corn starch and they can decompose up to 90% within 90 days if disposed properly.
Paper-based Packaging like corrugated boxes and other forms of paper-based packaging are biodegradable unless it is recycled and does not end up in the landfill!
When it comes to plastic, film and flexible packaging formats for single use, we recognize the cost advantages and to use it. However, these types of single-use plastic are simply very challenging to recycle. The plastic products are very lightweight with very little material per packaging piece. The second issue is getting them collected, sorted and ready to be recycled.
In addition, flexible packaging is more highly contaminated with substrates such as inks, dyes, coating and creating additional issues for recycling. Simply, the USA doesn’t have that capability available to handle ALL of the plastics. Minnesota in the spring of 2023, has a $24 million, 170,000-square-foot plastic recycling plant that will be in operation with the goal to expand film recycling infrastructure and the supply of recycled resin for use in new products supported by a number of large companies in Minnesota along with Charter Next Generation based in Wisconsin. The residential recycling rate for film and flexible packaging in 2020 was just 2 percent!
GREEN BAY WI June 1, 2022: Website developer Packerland Websites in Howard and Bay Cities MultiMedia Center, Marinette, are teaming up. Marinette County businesses and nonprofits now have two marketing companies working for their success.
“We’re excited to begin this business relationship with Packerland Websites to give our clients an integrated approach to marketing across multiple channels. Digital marketing and radio advertising complement one another to build brand awareness and convey a brand’s personality,” said Bay Cities President and CEO Chris Bernier. “Packerland Websites offers our clients the benefits of working with a dynamic and experienced website designer and marketing professional.”
Bay Cities appeals to a broad range of listeners with its five radio stations: Cat Country 95.1 FM (WLST), The Rock 96.3 FM (WSFQ), Classic Hits 103.7 FM (WHYB), News Talk Radio 1340 AM (WAGN) and Sports Radio 570 AM (WMAM).
Representatives from Bay Cities MultiMedia Center and Packerland Websites meet to discuss a new partnership. The two organizations will provide marketing services across multiple channels. Clockwise from left are Bay Cities’ representatives Chris Bernier, Nicole Kelsey, Heidi Malawka and Camille Sowle and Packerland Websites’ owner Bill Koehne.
With the new partnership, Bay Cities MultiMedia Center will continue to manage clients’ websites and provide marketing products and services that create awareness, drive traffic, and generate conversions. Packerland Websites will provide website maintenance, cybersecurity, and hosting to keep websites functioning at peak performance 24/7/365. Plus, Packerland Websites will build or rebuild any new websites for Bay Cities clients.
“Every business needs a website, but many organizations lack the staff, know-how, and time to develop their own digital marketing strategies,” said Packerland Websites owner Bill Koehne. “That’s where we step in. Our team designs effective websites and SEO strategies that lead to results, so businesses gain and nonprofits prosper.”
Packerland Websites’ four full-time developers – all with degrees in website development – currently manage over 500 websites. Each website is uniquely designed as an effective online tool, not just a brochure on the internet. In addition to website design, Packerland Websites specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), geofence marketing, content writing, and app development.
“We’re looking forward to combining marketing and SEO strategies, both on and off the website pages, to help clients meet their goals,” Koehne said.
To better serve clients in Marinette and Menominee, Packerland Websites opened an office at Bay Cities MultiMedia, 844 Pierce Ave., Marinette. Packerland Websites also has offices at 2140 Velp Ave. Green Bay and Abrams.
To take your brand to the next level, contact Bay Cities MultiMedia at 715-735-0225 or Packerland Websites at 920-826-5901. To view a portfolio of commercial, municipal, and nonprofit websites built by Packerland Websites, visit PackerlandWebsites.com.
Worzalla Spells Out L-O-V-E for Reading by Supporting Adult Literacy
Stevens Point book printer raises takes first place in donations to Portage County Literacy Council’s and Annual Words & Friends for Literacy
Stevens Point, Wisconsin (May 12, 2022) – Worzalla, an employee-owned printing company specializing in high-quality children’s books and cookbooks, was a sponsor of this year’s Words & Friends for Literacy event hosted and organized by the Portage County Literacy Council. After taking a pause in 2020 and a remote event in 2021 due to the pandemic, this year’s event was a success in helping raise more than $20,000. The funds Worzalla raised and all donations from other participants will support the Portage County Literacy Council’s community-based literacy programs.
“Worzalla associates were excited to participate in the Portage County Literacy Council’s annual fundraising and support a cause we’re so closely connected to,” said Brianne Petruzalek, Vice President of Human Resources at Worzalla. “Reading is a wonderful way to find escape and learn about new ideas and PCLC understands that literacy is possible at any stage in life. As book printers, we’re proud to contribute to their programming to make literacy possible for adults in our community.”
The Words & Friends for Literacy fundraising event invited members of the community to form teams of four or more people and host a House Party for Literacy. Teams completed challenges and raised funds during Apr. 27, 28 and/or 29. Worzalla’s team, The Jefferson Street Girls, comprised of associates Sparky Musolf, Deb Clark, Brenda Betro, Sarah Zuehlke, Sheila Jasenovsky (Team Capitan), Kim Mains, Cathy Davis, Jennifer Heisler and Shasta Grosbier, took first place in collecting a total of $2,331.00 in pledges from friends, family and fellow Worzalla associates.
“Support from Worzalla, as well as other community members and sponsors, helps us continue to provide adult literacy services in Portage County,” said Kristy SeBlonka, Co-Director at Portage County Literacy Council. “We’re thrilled to see our community’s enthusiasm and rally behind our mission of helping adults achieve their literacy goals.”
Worzalla has an extended history of supporting literacy for all ages in Wisconsin. Most recently, Worzalla hosted its own fundraiser for PCLC with the “Reel It In For Reading” Ice Fishing Competition and plans year-round community involvement activities for local elementary schools. To learn more visit www.worzalla.com.
About Worzalla
Worzalla is an employee-owned printing company headquartered in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Founded in 1892, Worzalla has 130 years of experience in creating high-quality custom products for its customers. Worzalla specializes in the production of cookbooks, children’s and lifestyle books, and is dedicated to exceeding expectations for quality, service, and delivery. From small to large publishers, Worzalla is the printer the industry turns to for manufacturing high profile projects and award-winning books. With numerous industry awards for safety and workplace culture, Worzalla is consistently ranked as one of the top places to work in central Wisconsin. For more information, visit www.worzalla.com.
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 72 Stories and Links on the Internet below.
The war created by Russia in Ukraine has created huge issues with the Paper and Pulp Industries in Europe. Russia is a major exporter of oil, natural gas, minerals, pulp, paper and linerboard to Europe. Russia exports of paper, paperboard and pulp were US $2.41 billion during 2020, according to the United Nations. BIV reports that Russia exported $12 billion worth of lumber, logs, pulp, paper and wood pellets in 2021. The volume of packaging paper and paperboard exports from Russia reached 1.35 million metric tons in 2019 with expectations to grow 37.4 percent. Russia exported 2.316 million tons of pulp in 2022.
China had shifted its purchase of pulp to Europe, reducing imports from Russia and the USA over the past 3 years. However, we anticipate that China will go back to Russia due to the sanctions and price concessions. In addition, anticipate China will be purchasing rights to timber resources in Russia. As we see more sanctions, companies in the paper, pulp and related industries will no longer do business with Russia. We see a number of them already pulling out of Russia.
Wisconsin has a great opportunity with the embargo on Russia to supply Europe who is in desperate need of resources for pulp, paper and packaging materials, along with increasing the USA production to support America! Russia usually sends some 180,000-200,000 tons of kraftliner to Europe each year. Ukraine is a big exporter of kraftliner to Europe. Russia accounts for roughly 4% of global pulp exports.
With the strike at UPM, the US market is in desperate need for fine printing paper resources, and we will see less and less paper coming from Europe. The projections for printing papers are to decrease 1-2% over the year. However, that is not the case for 2022. We have seen a lot of demand for printing and packaging papers! With NO PAPER or LIMITED PAPER from Europe, this creates a large market for the USA-based paper manufacturers to support the fine printing paper production.
The USA companies have increased the production of board which could supply the USA and the world market. Wisconsin has a large number of companies in the board and corrugated industries! These are questions for the US-based paper companies to use the Wisconsin resources to rebuild our pulp and paper industries. Obviously, Green Bay Packaging has been a great asset for Wisconsin, setting a great example!
The Green Bay Innovation Group has had some success with finding paper for the printing industry and/or coming up with some alternative solutions. We are building a library of resources to support you. We would like to set up a meeting and invite ALL parties to better understand the impact of paper on the 5P and Converting Industries! The Paper Industry is the backbone of our industries and at this time, it is BROKEN! If you are interested, please send me an email to:
martinpochs@gmail.com or text to: 608-698-3333. We welcome your feedback, too!
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.
Bringing Green Bay Companies Together. Green Bay Innovation Group is committed to building an authentic networking experience where innovation can thrive.
