NEW Manufacturing Insights

Barb LaMue, the president and CEO of New North, Inc., joins co-hosts Kate Bruns of Insight on Manufacturing magazine and Ann Franz of the NEW Manufacturing Alliance on this week's episode. Listen in as Barb reflects on the organization's nearly 20 years of success chartering economic development in the 18-county region, including its talent and business attraction achievements and the potential im...

Jim Eckes, fabrication manager at Nercon Conveyor Systems, joins co-hosts Kate and Ann on this week's episode to talk about the company's investment in the community of Oconto, which has included a partnership with Oconto High School, educational programs with NEWMA, and a burgeoning youth apprenticeship program Jim calls one of the "favorite programs I've ever been involved with." You can also he...

This week's podcast takes a look back at Manufacturing First 2024, which was held last week at the Resch Expo in Green Bay. Hear reflections from co-hosts Ann and Kate, as well as interviews recorded live at the event with participants who shared their #MfgFirst insights during the day. Thank you to Northeast Wisconsin Technical College for sponsoring this episode, and thank you to everyone who at...

This week Kayla Countney of Goodwill NCW and Nancy Bleck of Rawhide Youth Services join co-hosts Ann Franz and Kate Bruns to talk about the innovative Career EXCELerate program -- a collaboration between Goodwill NCW, Rawhide Youth Services and Fox Valley Technical College that provides free job training coupled with high-level mental and emotional support. The program was launched about three yea...

We're celebrating our 50th episode this week! This episode features a conversation with Jason Bailin and Jordy Krall of Appleton's Eagle Performance Plastics, which was recently named one of Wisconsin's Best Places to Work in Manufacturing and was featured in the September issue of Insight on Manufacturing. Bailin, sales manager, and Krall, sustainability specialist, talk about Eagle's recent grow...

We're back to talking marketing on this week's episode of NEW Manufacturing Insights -- this time with Greg Linnemanstons, the 23-year president of the Appleton-based inbound marketing firm Weidert Group. Greg tells Kate and Ann about his firm's B2B services as well as previews his forthcoming Manufacturing First breakout session, "The Top Industrial Sales & Marketing Plays Your Lead Gen Strat...

Werner Electric Supply President Craig Wiedemeier joins Kate and Ann live from Werner Electric's headquarters in Appleton as we celebrate the one-year anniversary of NEW Manufacturing Insights at a special Manufacturing Month kickoff event.  Craig tells the co-hosts the 75-year-long story of Werner Electric and shares how the business has evolved to become a partner with manufacturers in learning...

Brett Lindsey is the newest CEO of Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based ark data centers, which recently rebranded from Involta and is creating in the New North region its largest data center in the country. ark data centers will create a 20-megawatt campus on 24.5 acres in the village of Harrison, with easy access to major markets such as Chicago and Minneapolis. On this week's episode, Lindsey tells co-host...

Steve Meyer, a longtime advocate and practitioner of technical education in Northeast Wisconsin, joins Kate and Ann on this week's episode to take a deeper dive into this month's Insight on Manufacturing cover story about the New North region's tech education teacher shortage and what institutions like Wisconsin Technical College System, UW System and school districts like Seymour Community are do...

Kelly Bubolz of KB Training Connections is an expert on preventing burnout in the manufacturing industry -- because she herself is a survivor of burnout in the manufacturing industry. Her body suffered complete physical collapse from burnout in March 2021, forcing her to leave the career she says she had worked so hard for. Back to school and the change in weather can exacerbate symptoms of burnou...

Don't miss this week's episode as leadership expert, educator and author Steve Jones of Jadin Jones Consulting joins Kate and Ann to talk leadership. He gives listeners a preview of his forthcoming Manufacturing First Expo & Conference keynote and shares stories and wisdom from along his career journey. The former five-time state championship winning football coach tackles topics from generati...

Formerly known as Precision Tool and Dye -- a name that didn't necessarily reflect what the company does, the firm we know today as Titletown Manufacturing is a "job shop" that does assembly and builds components for OEMs. Co-owner Chris Fuss joins Kate and Ann this week to explain the difference between "job shops" and "production shops," the intricacies of the machining trade he has been involve...

With a history dating back to 1863, Manitowoc's Burger Boat Company is Wisconsin's second-oldest company. Our guest today, naval architect Ron Cleveringa, has been with the firm for 25 years and even dreamed of working for Burger Boat as a child growing up in Michigan.  A custom shipbuilder that got its start creating fishing vessels, Burger Boat today produces some of the world's most dazzling ya...

Bryan Perl, a serial entrepreneur and founder of Fond du Lac's Spark Ops Metalworks, joins Kate and Ann on this week's episode to share how Spark Ops has transformed the entertainment industry with its patented truss components, which have been used for stages at major events from the Super Bowl to Formula 1 to the Olympics. Founded in 2022, Spark Ops is a newcomer to the Northeast Wisconsin manuf...

DeWitt LLP Law Firm's Steve DiTullio joins Kate and Ann on this week's episode to unpack the employment law issues that should be top of mind for manufacturers in 2024 and 2025, including the recent announcement from the FTC banning non-compete clauses nationwide, a topic on which DiTullio comments in the July issue of Insight on Manufacturing. Get an update on the rule's status in the appeals pro...

"Flex Your Marketing" author Terra Fletcher of Fletcher Consulting encourages manufacturers to be open-minded about their marketing on this week's episode. Fletcher joins co-hosts Ann Franz and Kate Bruns in the studio to discuss some the biggest marketing and communications challenges facing the industry: personal branding and thought leadership, talent attraction, mergers and acquisitions, socia...

Wipfli's Mo Abuali joins co-hosts Ann Franz and Kate Bruns virtually from Cincinnati to provide more industry insights around the NEWMA Industry 4.0 Talent and Technology Survey, which is covered in the July issue of Insight on Manufacturing (IOM). Listen in as Abuali unpacks five practical ways manufacturers can and should be looking at leveraging AI in their businesses. Wipfli is also offering q...

Werner Electric Supply Project Manager Weston Timmers is Kate's and Ann's guest on the latest episode of NEW Manufacturing Insights, which is dedicated to exploring the July Insight on Manufacturing cover story, which unpacks the NEW Manufaturing Alliance's 2024 Industry 4.0 Talent and Technology Survey. Weston shares the insights he sees on the ground working with manufacturers, explaining what s...

Third-generation CEO Tanya Nueske of Nueske's Applewood Smoked Meats, Wittenberg, joins Kate and Ann to talk about the company's 91-year history in Northeast Wisconsin, the ins and outs of operating a family business, and why Nueske's old-fashioned, slow smoking process has led it to receive numerous awards, recognition in the New York Times and on restaurant menus nationwide, and finalist status...

2023 Excellence in Manufacturing K-12 Partnership Award honoree Elizabeth Kust of the N.E.W. School of Innovation joins Kate and Ann to talk about the charter school program that is working on the ground at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College to provide an alternative learning environment for students in grades 7-12. Elizabeth discusses the challenges of operating a charter school, the rewards o...

Art and science come together to create some of the best products, French post-impressionist Georges-Pierre Séurat famously said. This was the inspiration for Tim and Gretchen Gilbertson when they created Séura, a Green Bay-based manufacturer that makes innovative TV mirror products. The owners and co-founders of the company joined Kate and Ann in the studio to discuss the challenges of running a...

Lynn Coriano, executive director of the Basic Needs Giving Partnership and co-founder of the Greater Fox Valley Child Care Alliance, joins Kate and Ann on this week's episode to unpack an issue that affects not just parents and children, but all of society: child care and early childhood education.  Lynn explains how the U.S. child care system as a whole has been analyzed as a "market failure," wh...

Dr. Kristen Raney became the eighth president of Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay on July 1, 2023. As she concludes her first year at the helm of NWTC, Raney stops by NEW Manufacturing Insights to talk about being an open access institution that's helping build Wisconsin's high-tech workforce of the future and strengthening communities in Northeast Wisconsin. On the NEW Manufactu...

This week NEW Manufacturing Insights is highlighting some of the best leadership insights from its first 30 episodes. Check out wisdom from CEOs, education leaders and other standout thought leaders in manufacturing who have appeared on the podcast throughout its first nine months. We'll be back with another new, regular episode June 6!

NEWMA board chair Jeff Berg joins Kate and Ann on this week's episode, which is sponsored by Wintrust Commercial Banking at Town Bank, N.A. Jeff is currently the vice president of operations for Voith Paper, which employs more than 500 people in Wisconsin. He first got involved with NEWMA about five years ago and has since become passionate about the organization's mission. This year, he says he i...