GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – The Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance was created with the vision that every manufacturer in the area can find the talent they need to fill all roles.
Ann Franz, the Executive Director of the N.E.W. Manufacturing Alliance, said “It was really the idea of a manufacturer that had lots of great jobs kinda like today and couldn’t find people and he’s like is there anyone trying to change the image of manufacturing? So he brought some people together, 12 companies, and now we have over 300 members.”
The Alliance said that over half the manufacturing workforce in Northeast Wisconsin are members.
“We do things like internship draft day where we connect college students with member companies,” said Franz. “We also look at that pipeline, we have a lot with K-12.”
The post coronavirus economy has created new challenges for manufacturers across Northeast Wisconsin, almost every business in the area is hiring for immediate openings in their company.
Mike Kawleski, the Public Affairs Manager at Georgia-Pacific, said, “Georgia Pacific has a number of openings. Right now, our greatest need right now is on the production floor.”
Mary Kahler, the Marketing Manager for HUI said, “Right now we are hiring right now for all shifts for fabrication technicians and for our paint line assembly technicians as well.”
Jeff Anderson, the President of Precision Paper Converters, said, “So our main need is maintenance technicians and machine operators which are two of the main needs in the entire market.”
Patrick McCarthy, the VP business of Metko Incorporated, said, “We have a lot of jobs from lasers and punching operations, to welding, weldings a big need for us, to maintenance.”
Each company said they offer competive wages and benefits to get people through the door.
“Starting salary is one thing we paid a lot of attention to and we have a full benefits package,” said Kawleski. “Plus tuition reimbursement.”
“We offer a high degree of flexibility for our employees you can sorta pick your shift that you want to work and what works for your family,” said Kahler.
“We feel like we have a great benefits package,” Anderson. “Competative wages, for us we’re a small company we have about 60 team members, so it’s very much a team environment, very flexible.”
McCarthy said, “Well there’s great pay, wonderful benefits, we do some sign on bonuses.”
Each of these companies offer on site training, so anyone can apply at any level of experience.
You can find the N.E.W. Manufacturing Alliance’s job postings here.