NORTHEAST WISCONSIN – The NEW Manufacturing Alliance is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, marking two decades of growth in supporting Northeast Wisconsin’s manufacturers.

“Manufacturing is an important economic and workforce driver in our region” said Ann Franz, executive director of the NEW Manufacturing Alliance. “Our organization spotlights manufacturing careers as being an exciting field to enter whether you are a K-12 student to an adult looking to enter a new career field.”

The manufacturer-led nonprofit has grown from 12 founding members to over 400, representing over half of the manufacturing workforce in 18 counties across Northeast Wisconsin.

“We’re bringing them together to hear their voices and then create solutions based on what they really need,” Franz said. “We have a critical mass of manufacturers that are coming together on six different task forces that meet monthly where they really can work with their colleagues on solutions.”

Advocating for manufacturing education

It’s not just the organization’s membership that’s grown over the last two decades, though.
Since the Manufacturing Alliance’s founding, local technical colleges have seen increases in enrollment and graduation rates of manufacturing related programs more than 300% and the region went from having no four-year engineering degree programs to having 100s of engineering degree students at UW-Green Bay and UW-Oshkosh.

“Results really are the reason why companies want to partner,” Franz said. “They see that they have a louder voice by joining together than when they’re trying to do things separately.”

The Manufacturing Alliance has also supported more than $600,000 in college scholarships.
“When we first started, we gave $4,000,” Franz said. “If you would have told me that day, because I was nervous about writing that big check, that we would, by 20 years into it, give over $600,000, that would have blown me away.”

Recognizing excellence in manufacturing

In addition to advocating for manufacturing education opportunities to ensure a skilled workforce for Wisconsin’s manufacturers, the NEWMA also works to recognize those already in the industry.

“We have an All Star Awards program where we recognize our members’ employees in our magazine and videos…” Franz said. “We have over 200 people that have been recognized and we have over 200 career videos, so I’m really proud of being able to be a voice for individuals that may not have ever thought they’d be in a magazine. What they do is so important to the community, so that’s what I think I’m most proud of — having the opportunity to spotlight these amazing men and women that go to work everyday, not expecting to be recognized.”

Other NEWMA programs and events include Internship Draft Day, Excellence in Mfg./K-12 Partnership Awards, Get Real Math and Science videos, SeaPerch underwater robotics competitions and employability skills and safety videos.

Adapting to industry changes

Beyond recognizing what manufacturers are already doing, the Manufacturing Alliance also looks to prepare its members for changes within the industry through studies and training.
The Manufacturing Alliance has conducted multiple studies, including the Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Vitality Index, NEWMA Industry 4.0 study and the Aging Workforce study.

“About six years ago, I had Microsoft contact me and say, ‘Hey, we like what you’re doing. If we gave you some money, what would you do with it?’ And I love those calls,” Franz said. “At that time, I had heard about Industry 4.0, but when I talked to companies, they didn’t really know what I was talking about. So we did a study with St. Norbert College to understand where companies were in their Industry 4.0 journeys. In 2019, the first year we did that study, they were really early in their journey.”

“We found that a lot of companies knew they needed their employees to understand data analytics because we have a lot of data, but we’re information poor,” Franz said. “So we created training for our member employees on data analytics. And then we did AI and project management over the years. Now, we’ve trained over 2,000 of our members’ employees in those skills… We’re not just focused on trying to get people interested in the jobs, but also that once they have the jobs, they have the skills needed to be successful.”

To learn more about the NEW Manufacturing Alliance, visit newmfgalliance.org.